The first-ever cross-border energy pipeline between Bangladesh and India will be inaugurated on Saturday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, will inaugurate the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline via video conference, according to a press release issued earlier by the Indian Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi.
The 130-kilometre pipeline between India and Bangladesh was built at an estimated cost of 3.77 billion rupees.
The cost of the Bangladesh portion, 2.85 billion rupees, was borne by the Indian government under its grant assistance.
The pipeline has the capacity to transport 1 million tons of high-speed diesel per annum. It will initially supply diesel to seven districts in northern Bangladesh.
A long-term agreement was signed in 2017 for the import of diesel from India through the pipeline, which stretches from West Bengal's Siliguri to a Meghna petroleum depot in Dinajpur's Parbatipur.
The bilateral project launched in March 2020 had an initial deadline of June 2022, which was pushed back another year because of complications arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, reports The Times of India.
Diesel accounts for 75% of fuel oils used in Bangladesh, and the country needs around 4.6 million tons of it per year – 80% of which is met through direct imports, according to a report published last year.
