In a bid to ensure Energy security for the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been using energy as a cornerstone of his diplomacy and to tilt balance of trade in favor of India. Hence the government is set to accelerate work on all delayed projects in South-East Asia which includes the fuel pipeline between India and Bangladesh.
India eyes to change fuel trade dynamics with IBFPL project, availing a better hydrocarbon transportation network to satisfy growing energy demand in the subcontinent.
After completion of successful reviews gauging the progress on the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL), the government has now invited bids to kick-start the work on the project. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), last week invited bids to lay the 129.5 km-long pipelines and construct terminal work on the IBFPL project.
According to a senior official, the Project Review Monitoring Committee (PRMC) held a second round of meeting on the progress over IBFPL in the last week of December 2019. The PRMC then conveyed their report to MEA, which on 3 January published a tender inviting bid for the IBFPL project.
“We had already invited companies to carry out engineering, procurement, and construction management on the project, as well as a tender inviting bid for a particular type of pipe for the supply of fuel. The new tender is for laying the pipeline and completing the construction of the terminals,” the official informed.
The IBFPL project will connect Siliguri in West Bengal and Parbatipur in the Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. This 129.5 km-long pipeline is expected to further energize, not only the economy of Bangladesh, also, strengthen the relations between the two neighbors.
The IBFPL project worth Rs 346 crore is scheduled to be completed by mid-2022, depending on the availability of the right of way in Bangladesh. The project is being implemented with Grant-in-aid support of Rs 285 crores from India for the Bangladesh portion of the pipeline. The rest of the funds around Rs 61 crores invested by the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) – a Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) subsidiary located at Golaghat in the north-eastern state of Assam.
With the IBFPL, Bangladesh will receive eco-friendly oil at the Parbatipur Depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) in the north-western district of Dinajpur. Currently, high-speed diesel is being transported by rakes from the Siliguri terminal.
In 2018, Prime Minister Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina had jointly inaugurated the development of a friendship pipeline project via a video conference. Setting up this pipeline is in line with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government’s efforts to create cross-border pipeline routes for Indian refiners exploring markets in the entire neighborhood. The IBFPL is therefore set to bring major logistical change the dynamics of fuel trade in the Indian subcontinent.
