New Delhi, April 18
An additional 5,000 tonnes of diesel started flowing into Bangladesh from India through the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, reinforcing Dhaka's fuel security amid the maritime uncertainty in West Asia affecting energy imports, reports said.
Quoting the manager of Parbatipur Padma Oil Depot in Bangladesh's Dinajpur, the Bangla Tribune reported that the tranche started arriving from Numaligarh in Assam on Thursday. Numaligarh Refinery Limited was established in 1993 and is under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in India.
Sources told the newspaper that Bangladesh has initiated steps on "an urgent basis" to maintain oil reserves and ensure an uninterrupted supply. It added that earlier, 8,000 metric tonnes of diesel arrived at the Parbatipur railhead depot on Tuesday from Numaligarh Refinery.
Last month, some 22,000 metric tonnes of diesel arrived, and on March 11, the first 5,000 metric tonnes reached the depot in Dinajpur through the Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline. Altogether, 30,000 metric tonnes of diesel will be brought from India through the pipeline in April this year, sources at the Parbatipur depot told the newspaper.
Authorities at the Dinajpur depot told the Bangla Tribune on Friday that it will take close to 50 hours for 5,000 metric tonnes of diesel to finally reach the destination. Another 7,000 metric tonnes of diesel will also be arriving from Numaligarh Refinery "in the next 4-5 days," added the report.
The new government in Dhaka has continued to import diesel from India through the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline to ensure the country's energy security, it said. This connectivity is portrayed as a critical energy lifeline for Bangladesh. Compared to traditional shipping methods, the pipeline enables faster, more cost‑effective, and more reliable transportation of fuel.
The infrastructure has become central to Dhaka's energy cooperation with New Delhi, helping meet rising domestic demand while stabilising supply chains. Incidentally, the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline was inaugurated on March 18, 2023, in a virtual mode jointly by PM Modi and the then-Bangladesh Premier, Sheikh Hasina.
The foundation stone for this pipeline was laid by the two Prime Ministers in September 2018. Numaligarh Refinery Limited has been supplying petroleum products to Bangladesh since 2015. This marked the second cross‑border energy pipeline between India and its neighbours.
It was also the first cross‑border energy pipeline between India and Bangladesh with a capacity to transport 1 million metric tonnes per annum of high‑speed diesel to Bangladesh. Bangladesh, according to an official statement during the inauguration, was among India's principal development partners and the largest trade partner in the region.
The operationalisation of the Friendship Pipeline was intended to enhance ongoing energy cooperation between the two countries to provide an impetus to Bangladesh's growth, particularly in the agriculture sector, the government release had added.
In the current uncertainty, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has sought a USD 2 billion fund from development partners to meet Dhaka's immediate energy needs and safeguard economic stability amid the ongoing global energy crisis, the Daily Star reported.
- IANS
Reader Comments
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.