Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline through video conferencing. During this, PM Modi said that today a new chapter has started in India-Bangladesh relations. We laid the foundation stone of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline in September 2018. I am happy that today the opportunity has come to inaugurate it with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it is also a matter of satisfaction that despite the Kovid epidemic, the work of this project continued. This pipeline will be able to supply one million metric tonnes of high speed diesel to various districts of northern Bangladesh.
Bangladesh made remarkable progress under the able leadership of Sheikh Hasina
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in the last few years under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Every Indian is proud of this and we are happy that we have been able to contribute to this development journey of Bangladesh. I am sure that this pipeline will further accelerate the development of Bangladesh and will also be an excellent example of increasing connectivity between the two countries.
It was convenient to send oxygen etc. to Bangladesh
He said that I remember that many years ago Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina discussed about her vision of restoring the pre-1965 rail connectivity. Since then both the countries together have made a lot of progress on it. As a result of this, during the Kovid epidemic, we were able to send oxygen etc. to Bangladesh through the rail network.
First unit of Maitri Super Thermal Power Project commissioned
PM Modi said that today India is supplying more than 1100 MW electricity to Bangladesh. The first unit of Maitri Super Thermal Power Project has been commissioned. It was inaugurated last year during PM Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India. Now we are working towards starting the second unit soon.
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This is the first cross border pipeline
This is the first cross-border pipeline between the two countries. It has been built at a cost of about Rs 377 crore. Out of the total cost, Rs 285 crore has been spent on laying the pipeline in Bangladesh. India has spent this amount under grant aid.
One million tonnes of high-speed diesel can be sent in a year
The Ministry of External Affairs had told on Friday that one million tonnes of high-speed diesel can be sent through the pipeline in a year. Through this, initially high-speed diesel will be sent to seven districts of northern Bangladesh. The operationalization of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline will establish a sustainable, reliable, cost-effective and environment-friendly way of moving HSD (High Speed Diesel) from India to Bangladesh and further enhance cooperation in energy security between the two countries.
