The Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) is expected to complete the construction of India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline by the end of 2022.
What is India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline?
- The India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Project (IBFPP) aims to connect Siliguri in West Bengal, India with Parbatipur in Bangladesh’s Dinajpur district.
- The total outlay of this project is Rs.346 crore.
- The capacity of this under-construction 130 km pipeline will be 1 million metric per year.
- The pipeline’s construction commenced after the formal inauguration in March 2020.
- The project is jointly implemented by the Numaligarh Refinery Limited of India and Meghna Petroleum Limited of Bangladesh.
- Initially, Bangladesh would buy some 2.5 lakh tonnes of diesel. It would then be increased up to 4 to 5 lakh tonnes in the following years.
- Under the contract, Bangladesh will import diesel for 15 years from the day when supply commences.
Significance
Once completed, the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline would help provide a stable supply of diesel in all 16 northern districts under Rangpur and Rajshahi in Bangladesh. It will ensure fast-paced delivery of fuel at a minimum cost. Currently, imported diesels are supplied to these regions via wagons and trawlers from the Chattogram and Mongla ports. It costs around $8 for each barrel of fuel to be transported from the port city. The pipeline would reduce the cost to around $5 per barrel. It will also reduce the transportation time to just one hour as opposed to the current situation of taking several days to transport diesel via wagons and trawlers.
About Numaligarh Refinery Limited
The Numaligarh Refinery Limited is a government of India enterprise based in Assam. It is a group company of the Oil India Limited. During the FY 2021-22, it achieved the highest ever sales turnover of Rs.23,546 crore, which is 26.95 per cent higher than the previous year.