Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi have jointly flagged off the construction of a cross-border oil pipeline.
The premiers, from Dhaka and New Delhi, kicked-off the works of the 136-km ‘Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline’ on Tuesday via video conferencing.
They also inaugurated the construction of an India-financed rail track that will ease travel between the neighbouring countries.
The two countries entered into an agreement for the pipeline construction early this year.
The 6-km Indian leg of one million tonne capacity pipeline will be financed by Numaligarh Refinery. The remaining 130 km of the pipeline will be in Bangladesh and is financed through India’s ongoing development cooperation programme. The total cost of the pipeline is pegged at Tk 5.2 billion.
Depending on the availability of the right of way in Bangladesh, the pipeline is scheduled to be completed in 27 months. The project will replace the existing practice of sending diesel by rail, covering a distance of 510 km.

India started sending diesel produced by Numaligarh Refinery to Bangladesh under a long-term deal in March 2016. Currently, it sends approximately four rake loads (10,000 to 12,000 kilolitre) of diesel every month for distribution in northern Bangladesh districts.
Bangladesh has been mulling oil-pipelines across the country.
Officials said last year, the government was working to build five major oil-carrying pipelines having the total length of over 600 kilometres (km) at a cost of around Tk 81.21 billion by 2020, which included the cross-country one with India as well as four intra-country pipelines.
Currently, Bangladesh depends on coastal tankers, railway wagons and tank lorries to carry both crude and refined oil products to end-users after importing from global suppliers in Chittagong depots as it has no major oil-carrying pipeline.
Small barges, mostly owned by the private sector, have also been carrying petroleum products on various river routes.