Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh reinstigated talks of importing diesel to the neighboring country from the Numaligarh Refinery Limited in Assam during her recent visit to India. PM Hasina was on a four-day visit to India to cement the multifaceted relationship between the two countries and for the signing of several bilateral agreements.

Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi both reviewed the progress made on this India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline that will contribute to addressing the energy demands of Bangladesh. They expressed hope that the project would be completed at the earliest. The Rs. 346 crores India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Project (IBFPP), signed in 2018 will connect Siliguri in West Bengal in India and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. The capacity of the 130km oil pipeline will be one million metric tonnes per annum when completed.

The Bangladesh PM along with her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi agreed to expeditiously implement projects to connect the two countries power grids synchronously.

The PM said that Bangladesh will soon import diesel through a pipeline from Numaligarh. Drawing on the neighboring country's aid in the energy sector, Hasina said India will set up a pipeline to supply fuel oil to the Parbatipur oil depot from Numaligarh in Assam to facilitate the northern region of Bangladesh.

It needs mention that a project to build a 100 km pipeline by NRL from India to Bangladesh at a cost of Rs. 150 crores was initiated in 2011. NRL was to export 10,000 MT of High Speed Diesel (HSD) annually, the value of which was around Rs.35 crores during that time. In 2017, a formal proposal for the friendship project was announced when Bangla Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.

Hereafter, the cross-border pipeline, the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, was operated from Siliguri in West Bengal to Parpatipur in Northern Bangladesh. It was decided that until the completion of the project, NRL will transport HSD through rail. NRL dispatched the first consignment of HSD consisting of a railway rake that had 2,281 metric tonnes of the fuel chugged off from the refiner's marketing terminal at Siliguri to the Parbatipur depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).

Although India proposed to supply 10 lakh tonnes of diesel annually but later it was agreed that at the outset, India would supply only 2 lakh to 4 lakh tonnes a year, which might be increased as and when demand increases. The price of diesel was to be fixed at international rates.

Bangladesh PM also requested the Indian side to assist in meeting its domestic requirement for petroleum products. Modi agreed to facilitate discussions between the authorized agencies of both sides.

The Indian side appreciated Bangladesh’s timely support in allowing the transportation of petroleum, oil, and lubricants from Assam to Tripura via Bangladesh in light of disruptions due to the devastating floods in Assam and Meghalaya. The Indian side also welcomed the decision of the Bangladesh side to enlist Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) as a registered G2G supplier of refined petroleum products to Bangladesh.

In the spirit of enhancing sub-regional cooperation, the two leaders agreed to expeditiously implement projects to connect the two countries power grids synchronously, including through the proposed high capacity 765 KV transmission line from Katihar (Bihar) to Bornagar (Assam) through Parbatipur in Bangladesh, to be made through a suitably-structured India-Bangladesh joint venture for a Special Purpose Vehicle.

It was agreed to strengthen sub-regional cooperation in the power sector. Bangladesh requested for import of power from Nepal and Bhutan through India. India informed that the guidelines for the same are already in place in India.

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