PM Modi, Sheikh Hasina inaugurate Rs 377 crore India-Bangladesh friendship pipeline

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline worth Rs 377 crore on Saturday.

PM Modi addressed the event via video conferencing and showed confidence that this pipeline will further speed up the development in Bangladesh and be an excellent example of boosting connectivity between the two countries.

During the inauguration ceremony, PM Modi also said Bangladesh has made remarkable progress under the leadership of PM Sheikh Hasina and every Indian is proud to contribute to this development journey of the country.

The India-Bangladesh friendship pipeline was initiated in September 2018 and this pipeline will provide 1 million metric tonnes of high-speed diesel to Northern West Bengal districts, PM Modi further said. The pipeline will also cut down the cost and will reduce the carbon footprint of the supply.

He further thanked Sheikh Hasina for her continuous guidance on the project.

Highlighting the rail connectivity between India and Bangladesh, PM Modi said the rail network between the two nations helped to send oxygen and other supplements during the Covid-19 pandemic.

India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline is India’s second cross-border energy pipeline with its neighbours. Reports said the Bangladesh portion of the pipeline was built at a cost of approximately Rs 285 crore and has been bankrolled by the Government of India under grant assistance. Since 2015, Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Limited supplied petroleum products to Bangladesh.

The Pipeline will carry diesel from the NRL marketing terminal at Siliguri in West Bengal to the Parbatipur depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).