Hasina-Modi to inaugurate construction work Dec 17

Shahnaj Begum : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and his Indian counterpart Norendra Modi will kick off the 129.5-km-long India-Bangladesh Friendship Oil Pipeline construction work at a virtual meeting likely to be held on December 17.
This will be the first of this kind in the country’s history to import fuel oil through cross border pipeline. Presently high-speed diesel is being supplied from the Siliguri terminal through rail rakes.
The project will replace the existing practice of
sending diesel by rail covering a distance of 510 km.
“Both the prime ministers will inaugurate the installation of the pipeline at the virtual summit. We have completed all necessary works from our part,” State Minister Nasrul Hamid told the Daily Observer on Thursday.
India started sending Euro-III diesel produced by NRL to Bangladesh under a long-term deal in March 2016. Currently, NRL sends approximately four rake loads (10,000 to 12,000 kilo litre) of diesel every month for distribution in North Bangladeshi districts.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) Chairman Md Abu Bakr Siddique said some land issues are still pending and it may be sorted out by this time.
The two countries entered into an agreement for the pipeline construction early 2018.
The 6-km Indian leg of the 1 million tonne capacity pipeline will be financed by the Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery, a BPCL subsidiary. The remaining 130-km pipeline will be in Bangladesh and financed through India’s ongoing development cooperation programme.
The total cost of the pipeline is about Tk360 crore. The pipeline is scheduled to be completed in 27 months.
Most of the part of this pipeline is within Bangladesh side. Only around 5.16 km falls is inside Indian Territory and this leg will be financed by Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery.
This project will connect Siliguri in West Bengal and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh.
Through the cross-border pipeline, India will supply high-speed diesel from Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL), located at Golaghat to the north-eastern state of Assam.
Bangladesh will receive the eco-friendly oil at Parbatipur Depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) in the north-western district of Dinajpur.
The cross-border sales of petroleum helped Bangladesh spare the hassles of carrying imported fuel all the way from Chittagong by river and road. Also it will help free the capacities of the heavily congested Chittagong port, BPC feels.
The deal offers energy to NRL’s operation as the company sells its products mostly in North Bengal and parts of North Bihar in the absence of adequate demand in the North-Eastern States.
According to the Indian media report, One of the largest (3 million tonne capacity) among NE refineries, NRL is also keen to leverage its locational advantage for export of petroleum products to northern parts of Myanmar, which is now catered all the way from coastal Myanmar.
NRL supplied paraffin wax and diesel via land route to Myanmar for some time but the trade is now suspended by the Myanmar’s partner Parami Energy due to high cost of transportation.
To make the trade sustainable, NRL has to create pipeline up to Moreh-Tamu border in Manipur and the requisite facilities in Myanmar.
For sustainability, the company wants a crude pipeline from Paradip Port that will help it expand capacities to nine million tonne, which is adequate to tap the emerging demands in Bangladesh and Myanmar, it said.