Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, via video conferencing on Saturday.
While speaking at the event, Prime Minister Modi termed the inauguration as the start of a new edition of relations between the two nations.
Currently, diesel is supplied to Bangladesh through a 512-km rail route. The 131.5-km pipeline will supply up to 1 million tonnes per annum of diesel from Numaligarh in Assam to Bangladesh.
This would not just help save on transportation costs but also reduce the carbon footprint of moving the fuel, Modi said.
The construction of the pipeline project started in 2018. It is the first cross-border energy pipeline between the two neighbours. Of the total cost of Rs 377 crore of the project, the Rs 285 crore cost of Bangladesh section of the pipeline has been borne by the government of India under grant assistance.
The IBFPL will be transporting 1 million tonnes per annum (MMTPA) of diesel to seven districts in Northern Bangladesh.
"The India-Bangladesh friendship pipeline was initiated in Sep 2018...with the help of this pipeline Northern West Bengal districts will be provided 1 million metric tonnes of high-speed diesel," said PM Modi. "This will reduce the cost & will also reduce the carbon footprint of the supply," he added.
Also Read: Bangladesh: Explosion rocks seven-storey building in Dhaka; 16 killed, over 100 injured
