MODI, HASINA JOINTLY INAUGURATE INDO-BANGLA PIPELINE
DHAKA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday described the cooperation between India and Bangladesh as an example for the world as he and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the construction of a friendship pipeline project through video conferencing.
The 130-kilometre IndiaBangladesh Friendship Pipeline Project will connect Siliguri in West Bengal in India and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh.
The Rs 346-crore project will be completed in 30 months and the capacity of the pipeline will be one million metric tons per annum.
Both countries had entered into an agreement for the pipeline construction in April this year during Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale’s visit to Dhaka.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister Modi described the cooperation between the two countries as an example for the world, according to an official statement.
He said that the two countries were neighbours, geographically and family, emotionally, it said. Modi said the proposed pipeline will further energise not just Bangladesh’s economy, but also the relationship between the two countries.
He said the project will boost the friendship between India and Bangladesh and the pipeline will help fulfil energy needs of Bangladesh at cheaper rates.
Through the cross-border pipeline, India will supply fuel oil from its Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL), located at Golaghat in the north-eastern state of Assam, while Bangladesh will receive the oil at Parbatipur Depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) in northwestern district of Dinajpur, Bangladesh’s state-run BSS news agency reported.
Bangladesh and India signed a MOU on April 9 last to set up the pipeline aimed at pumping Indian oil to Bangladesh with a capacity of 1 million tonnes per year, the report said.
Besides the pipeline, the two leaders also inaugurated the construction of the third and fourth dual-gauge rail lines in Dhaka-tongi section and the dual-gauge rail line in Tongijoydebpur section of Bangladesh Railway.