A collaborative project called the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFP) aims to improve energy connectivity between India and Bangladesh. With the help of Bangladesh Petroleum Limited, the pipeline will move high-speed diesel from the Numaligarh Refinery Limited in Assam, India, to 16 districts in the Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions in northern Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has been receiving petroleum products from the Numaligarh refinery since 2015. At the moment, the nation imports 60,000 to 80,000 metric tonnes of diesel from India via railway networks. Each imported barrel of diesel will now cost $5 instead of $8 to transport from the port cities of Chattogram and Mongla according to the IBFP.
The pipeline, the first of its kind, spans 132 kilometres, with only 5 km in India and the remaining 127 km in Bangladesh, from Siliguri in West Bengal, India, to the oil depot at Parbatipur upazila in the Dinajpur district of Bangladesh.
While Bangladesh will initially receive 250,000 tonnes of diesel annually from the pipeline, with plans to increase that to 450,000 tonnes, even though the pipeline has the capacity to transport 1 million metric tonnes of diesel annually. The pipeline will guarantee a consistent and affordable supply of diesel, which will be especially advantageous for local businesses and the agricultural industry.
The IBFP project is remarkable because it offers a reliable, economical, and eco-friendly way to transport high-speed diesel. The bilateral petroleum trade has reached the $1 billion threshold, and Prime Minister Modi has referred to it as a new chapter in bilateral relations.
Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, highlighted the pipeline’s importance and said that the nation currently imports 1,160 MW of electricity from India. The supply of power will increase when a second thermal power plant with an 800 MW capacity starts operating.
In addition, the Power Development Board of Bangladesh has a contract to buy 1,496 MW of net capacity power from Adani Power Jharkhand Limited (APJL), a division of Adani Power Limited. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. has been authorised by Bangladesh as a legitimate supplier of refined petroleum goods to other governments.
The IBFP project improves energy connectivity and cooperation between Bangladesh and India while securing a consistent and affordable diesel supply that will benefit a number of industries. It is a significant step towards advancing sustainable development and solidifying bilateral ties.