India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline
Recently, Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Mrs. Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the 131 kilometer long India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline: IBFP) in virtual mode on 18 March 2023.
- It may be noted that both the Prime Ministers had laid the foundation stone for the construction of this pipeline in September 2018.
- Numaligarh Refinery Limited has been supplying petroleum products to Bangladesh since 2015. It is the second cross-border energy pipeline between India and its neighboring countries. Such cross border pipeline was laid between India and Nepal.
- IBFP is the first cross border energy pipeline between India and Bangladesh.
- The pipeline will transport 1 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) of high-speed diesel (HSD) to Bangladesh.
- This first cross-border friendship pipeline between the two countries has been built at an estimated cost of ₹377 crore, of which the Bangladesh portion of the pipeline costing about ₹285 crore has been borne by the Government of India under grant-in-aid.
- The pipeline will carry fuel from the marketing terminal of Numaligarh Refinery Limited in West Bengal’s Siliguri to the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation’s (BPC) oil depot at Parbatipur town in Bangladesh’s Dinajpur district.
- The custody transfer point will be at Banglabandha International Border Point in the suburbs of Siliguri. Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation will have the sole marketing rights within Bangladesh.
Source – PIB
