India-Bangladesh oil pipeline construction to be started this month
The construction of cross-country oil pipeline between India and Bangladesh will begin from this month.Prime Minister Narendra Modi may flag off the construction of the pipeline to carry diesel from Siliguri in West Bengal to Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of North Bangladesh. It may be mentioned that India and Bangladesh in April this year had signed six Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), including one for the construction of an 129.5 km oil pipeline between Siliguri and Parbatipur. The MoU on oil pipeline was signed with an aim to pump diesel from India to Bangladesh with a capacity of 1 million tonnes per year.“The MoU focuses on deepening bilateral cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector and the mutual benefits for both sides that would accrue from the proposed construction of approximate 129.5 km long oil pipeline from the Siliguri Marketing Terminal of the Numaligarah Refinery Ltd (NRL) in India to the Parbaripur depot of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC),” read the MoU. The report stated that the 6-km Indian leg of the pipeline will be financed by Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL).On the other hand, the remaining 130 km of the oil pipeline will be in Bangladesh and it will be financed through India’s ongoing development cooperation programme. The oil pipeline project, is scheduled to be completed in 27 months, will replace the existing practice of sending diesel by rail, covering a distance of 510 km, the report stated.
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