Diesel supply from India through the 130-kilometre-long India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline may start early next year.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Kumar Verna gave the information after his meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen at the latter’s office on Sunday.
The high commissioner also informed that transmission lines from the Rampal power station to Dhaka have already been set up and power supply from both units of the Rampal power station may start early next year.
Around 3.46 billion Indian rupees is being provided under the Indian line of credit (LOC) to implement the 130-kilometre-long India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline.
Of the oil line, 125 kilometres will be constructed inside Bangladesh and 5.0 kms on India's side.
Bangladesh currently imports around 2,200 tonnes of diesel every month from Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) through West Bengal Railway and the BPC carries the fuel through Bangladesh Railway to the Parbatipur oil depot in the country's northern region.
The BPC will, however, import as high as around 1.0 million tonnes of diesel annually through this pipeline.
Initially, the petroleum corporation will import around 250,000 tonnes of diesel per year during the initial three years of its operation.
The volume will be gradually increased to 400,000 tonnes per year during the first five years, from which the import quantity will increase to around 1.0 million tonnes a year.
Bangladesh will import diesel from India at least for 15 years under the pipeline deal.
"The country's diesel import might go beyond the already-agreed 15 years following mutual decision," said the official.
The BPC has agreed to purchase Indian diesel from NRL at a premium rate of US$5.50 per barrel to Mean of Platts Arab Gulf (MoPAG) constant for 15 years on a cost-and-freight (CFR) basis.
MoPAG is the benchmark in the oil-pricing formula prepared by Platts, a US-based energy information provider.
The cross-border pipeline passes through Panchagarh, Nilphamari and Dinajpur to Parbatipur oil storage.
The energy cooperation between the two countries is a part of greater economic integration, which will ultimately benefit the people of the country, the Indian high commissioner noted.
The high commissioner said that he will prioritise the implementation of the decisions taken during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Delhi in September.
The foreign ministries of the two countries are working to find ways and means to implement these decisions as soon as possible, the high commissioner said.
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