Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Saturday that her country’s first cross-border pipeline with India will play a vital role in ensuring energy security in Bangladesh at a time when the world was facing a severe energy crisis due to the war in Ukraine.
Hasina said this while virtually inaugurating with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi the 131.5 km Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline on Saturday.
Calling India a “true friend” of Bangladesh, Hasina said she wanted that friendship to remain intact.
The pipeline costing Rs 377 crore is part of the energy sector cooperation between the two neighboring countries through which Bangladesh will import petroleum, especially diesel from India.
As many countries around the world are on the brink of a fuel crisis due to the Russian-Ukrainian war at this time, this pipeline will play a vital role in ensuring the energy security of our people, Hasina said. .
“The friendship pipeline is a milestone in development cooperation between the two friendly countries,” she said.
In addition to ensuring fuel security, the pipeline will increase economic growth, she said.
Hasina said the time and expense required to import diesel from India will be significantly reduced by this pipeline.
We have solved all our bilateral problems one by one… We are getting India’s cooperation for our development,” she said, as quoted by the official United News of Bangladesh.
“We are importing 1160MW of power from India. Other regional and bilateral initiatives in the power sector are being implemented. Our cooperation to this end will be deeply rooted in the days to come,” she added.
We will work together on the national and international scene. The historical and geographical connection will further cement the Bangladesh-India relationship,” she said.
Hasina also invited Indian investors to invest in her country.
Modi also spoke at the event from his office.
He said the pipeline would open a new chapter in India-Bangladesh relations.
“The pipeline will contribute to faster development of Bangladesh and be a great example of increasing connectivity between the two countries,” he said.
The pipeline will run from the Siliguri-based marketing terminal of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) to the Parbatipur depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
According to the agreement, India will send 200,000 tons of oil per year for the first three years, 300,000 tons per year for the next three years, 500,000 tons per year for the next four years and 1 million tons per year thereafter, bdnews24.com reported.
The pipeline with India will reduce the cost of transporting fuel oil for Bangladesh by 50 percent, said Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Nasrul Hamid.
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