State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Friday said when oil is imported through the Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline, it will be possible to ensure uninterrupted irrigation and fuel supply in the country, which will also help reduce loadshedding, especially during the dry season.
“Production will also increase if irrigation facilities are ensured. This is a big achievement of the current government,” the state minister said during his visit to the receiving depot of the pipeline in Dinajpur's Parbatipur at noon.
The Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline will contribute effectively to ensuring energy security, said Nasrul Hamid.
It will be a milestone in providing fuel to the northern part of the country quickly, without interruption in a cost-effective manner, he said.
He said one of the main conditions for development is uninterrupted power and energy supply, and for the past 14 years, the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been doing it very successfully.
The foundation stone of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline was laid in 2018 to ensure uninterrupted, fast and cost-effective fuel supply to 16 districts of the northern part of the country.
Extending from India's Numaligarh to Bangladesh's Parbatipur depot, the pipeline will add an additional 29,000 tons/day of fuel storage capacity in the northern region. Through this pipeline, it will be possible to easily supply fuel to power plants, to supply fuel oil to 16 districts of the northern region at a low cost and in the fastest way.
At that time, Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary Dr Md Khairuzzaman, BPC Chairman ABM Azad and Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker were present, among others.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, will jointly open the maiden cross-border oil pipeline on March 18 for diesel transportation to Bangladesh.
The two premiers will inaugurate the pipeline through video conferencing.
According to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) officials, India will export diesel through the 130-km pipeline, built at a cost of around ₹3.46 billion drawn from the Indian line of credit (LoC).
The pipeline stretches 125km inside Bangladesh territory and 5km inside India.
The two premiers joined the ground-breaking ceremony for the IBFPL in September 2018 through video conferencing.
Bangladesh has so far been importing diesel from India through railway carriages.
Our Dinajpur correspondent, Md Faruk Hossain, contributed to this report
