Dhaka, Aug 2 - Concerned at the rising price of eggs, an everyday item in a Bangladeshi home, the government is considering large-scale imports, possibly from India.

There is resistance from the poultry product makers and an earlier proposal by GE Enterprises, a private trading firm, to import a billion eggs from India was shot down.

However, with the price of eggs hovering between Taka 28 and 32 ($ one = Taka 70) for a 'hali' (four pieces), 'the government is still toying with its planned move to withdraw ban on importing eggs, in force since 1993', New Age newspaper said Sunday.

Expressing dismay at the continuing high price of eggs, officials said the local poultry industry had failed to make this essential protein item affordable to the consumers.

The Bangladesh Poultry Industry Association is yet to project the actual costing for eggs, the prices of which incrementally shot up at the producers', wholesaler and retailers' levels, said a senior official of the commerce ministry.

The government is expected to issue a circular allowing local importers to purchase eggs from countries that are free from the bird flu epidemic, the official indicated.