Indo-Bangladesh pipeline to open in 2022: Shringla

Dhaka: The work on the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, a project that will enable the two countries to integrate their energy needs, could be inaugurated next year, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said here on Wednesday. The Rs346 crore India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Project (IBFPP) will connect Siliguri in West Bengal in India and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. The capacity of the 130-kilometre pipeline will be one million metric tonnes per annum.

Shringla said the IBFPP is a “very, very unique and significant pipeline that enables us to integrate our energy requirements”. The project is progressing very well and “we would be in a position to inaugurate it next year”, he told reporters here after President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday met the top Bangladeshi leadership and assured them of all help in promoting economic cooperation between the two neighbours.

The IBFPP will export fuel from Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) via the Siliguri Marketing Terminal to Bangladesh. During his separate meetings with Bangladesh President Mohammad Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, President Kovind spoke about the trade and connectivity issues. —(PTI)