India and Bangladesh open Friendship Pipeline today
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina will virtually inaugurate the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline today.
“This is the first cross-border energy pipeline between India and Bangladesh, built at an estimated cost of INR 377 crore, of which the Bangladesh portion of the pipeline was built at a cost of approx. INR 285 crore has been borne by the Government of India as a grant,” reads a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The pipeline has a capacity to carry 1 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) of high-speed diesel (HSD). It will initially supply High Speed Diesel to seven districts in northern Bangladesh,” the same press release said.
Construction of the pipeline began in 2018 with the help of Indian grants. The friendship pipeline runs from Siliguri to Parbatipur.
“The operation of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline will provide a sustainable, reliable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly means of transporting HSD from India to Bangladesh and will further enhance energy security cooperation between the two countries,” said the MEA. .
India-Bangladesh cooperation in the energy sector also extends to the energy sector. In 2010, New Delhi and Dhaka signed a memorandum of understanding in the energy sector. In 2013, the first cross-border electricity connection between the two countries was established.
Bangladesh has also designated the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) as an approved government to government (G2G) exporter of refined products to Bangladesh.
During Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in September 2022, cooperation on energy and electricity transmission lines also continued to gain momentum.