Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina described the inauguration of the ‘India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline’ as a milestone in mutual cooperation between the two countries. He said, I believe this partnership pipeline is a milestone achievement in the development of cooperation between our two friendly countries.
The Prime Minister inaugurated the partnership pipeline on Saturday afternoon from Gana Bhavan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conference from India.
131.5 km constructed at a cost of 3.46 billion Indian rupees taken from the Indian Line of Credit (LoC). India will export diesel to Bangladesh through India-Bangladesh Partnership Pipeline (IBFPL).
Diesel will be imported from Numaligarh Refinery in Siliguri, India to Parbatipur depot in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh through pipeline. Out of this, 125 km is in the Bangladesh part and 5 km in the Indian part. The pipeline has an annual transportation capacity of 1 million metric tons (mmtpa) of high-speed diesel (HSD).
After inaugurating the pipeline, both the Prime Ministers expressed hope that it will play an effective role in boosting the economy of Bangladesh. Besides, they also emphasized the need to enhance connectivity between the two countries for mutual benefit.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, it will increase the energy security of Bangladesh as well as accelerate the economic growth. He said, India is our true friend. I want this friendship between our two countries to remain unbroken.
The Prime Minister also said that Bangladesh has now got the status of a developing country, we want to implement it. And we want to improve Bangladesh by 2041, so that we can work together for the overall development and welfare of the people of both countries, keeping this friendly relationship with India, that is our goal. Because we want this development of our country to be accelerated. Along with that, we have upgraded our Mongla and Chittagong ports and Sylhet, Chittagong International Airport and Syedpur Airport as regional airports. Opening them completely to India so that India does not face any difficulty in using these ports. As a result, trade will be easier and people of both countries will benefit.
The Prime Minister said, we are building 100 Special Economic Zones across the country. I want investors from India to come and invest more. Both of us will benefit from it. He expressed hope that Bangladesh-India will jointly celebrate more successes like the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline in the coming days and work together nationally and internationally.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction over the opening of the pipeline and expressed his gratitude and thanks to the project stakeholders of both countries, especially those of India who worked day and night to build this pipeline.
He said that the people of Bangladesh will benefit in many ways as a result of the launch of this India-Bangladesh friendship pipeline. This pipeline will play a significant role in ensuring the energy security of our people when many countries around the world are facing energy crisis as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. The cost and time of importing diesel from India through this pipeline will also be significantly reduced. He expressed hope that this pipeline will ensure stable supply of diesel to the 16 districts of the northern part of Bangladesh.
The Prime Minister also thanked the Government of India and the people of Assam including the Chief Minister of Assam for providing financial and technical support for the construction of the pipeline.
The Prime Minister said that it was possible to import 60 to 80 thousand metric tons of diesel from India annually through railway wagons. As a result of the construction of the pipeline, it will be possible to import about 1 million metric tons of diesel annually.
He said, through this, a good market for Assam has been created in Bangladesh, where this diesel will be used for the development of people, and the people of Assam will also benefit, and the people of India will also benefit.
He said, currently our storage capacity in Pavartipur is 15 thousand metric tons. But we are working on increasing this storage capacity.
Pointing out that mutual cooperation in energy and electricity sector has increased for the welfare of the people of the two countries, he said, “We are committed to ensure electricity for hundred percent of people in Bangladesh, it has already been implemented.” We are importing 1,160 megawatts of electricity from India and several other bilateral initiatives are currently under implementation in the power sector, including at the sub-regional level. And as a result of this cooperation, our friendship is deepening.
In this context, the Prime Minister thanked all the political leaders and people of India for solving the mutual problems of the two countries regarding the sea border as well as the land border.
Sheikh Hasina expressed her sincere thanks to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 18, 2018 and he inaugurated the pipeline project virtually.
Parbatipur depot in colorful decoration, 23 lakh liters of oil arrived: Parbatipur (Dinajpur) representative said, on the occasion of inauguration, Parbatipur depot of Maitri pipeline was decorated in colorful decoration.
Both sides of the road up to the city are decorated with digital festoons and banners with pictures of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Prime Minister of India and Bangabandhu. Bangladesh has spent about 306 crores to implement the project.
Video conference program was organized in Parvatipur Upazila Auditorium. It was attended by the local member of parliament Ad. Mostafizur Rahman Fizar, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation Operations and Transportation Director Additional Secretary Khalid Ahmed, Corporation Marketing Director Joint Secretary Anupam Barua, Jamuna Oil Company Limited Managing Director Md. Gias Uddin Ansari, Managing Director of Padma Oil Company Limited. Masudur Rahman, Managing Director of Meghna Petroleum Company Limited. Abu Saleh Iqbal, Managing Director of Padma Oil Company Limited. Abdul Sobhan, General Manager (MD) of Pipeline Project Tipu Sultan, Deputy Commissioner Khalid Mohammad Zaki, Superintendent of Police Shah Iftekhar Ahmed, Chairman of Parvatipur Upazila Parishad Hafizul Islam Pramanik and Municipal Mayor Amjad Hossain.
It is known that 23 lakh liters of oil arrived at this depot from 12 to 16 March.
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