Daily Times

The inauguration of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFP) on Saturday has opened a new chapter of further strengthened economic cooperation between the two neighbours.

The Friendship Pipeline will carry diesel from the Siliguri marketing terminal of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd. in West Bengal to the Parbatipur depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) inside that country. Constructed at a cost of Rs 3.46 billion, this 130-km pipeline will enable India to export diesel to Bangladesh.

The cross-border pipeline, with a capacity of one million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), promises to solve the problem of transporting diesel to Bangladesh by sea route. Bangladesh has been importing diesel from India through the railways since 2017, with about 2,200 tonnes of diesel being dispatched from the Numaligarh Refinery through the rail route every month.

While the cost of transportation was very expensive for Bangladesh Petroleum Company, the pipeline, once operational, will not only save on transportation costs but also help reduce air and sound pollution to a great extent. Moreover, the Friendship Pipeline will also cut down the transportation cost of fuel oil for Bangladesh by about 50 per cent.

It is important to note that following the Ukraine crisis, energy security has become an issue of major concern for the developing and least-developed countries, including Bangladesh, and this cross-border energy cooperation will go a long way in helping Bangladesh mitigate its energy crisis. Though there was a bad phase in between for the bilateral relationship between the two countries against the backdrop of certain political problems in Bangladesh, India has stood by its neighbour in a very significant manner when the entire world was in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The area of cooperation between Ladesh and India is gradually expanding. Another milestone in progress in this regard was initiated last Saturday. Immediately after the inauguration, diesel started arriving from Numaligarh in Assam to the Parbatipur depot in Dinajpur, Bangladesh.

Through this pipeline, Bangladesh will be able to import about one million tons of oil annually from India. This will save the huge cost and time required to transport oil by road or rail. As a result, a stable supply of diesel is expected to be ensured in the 16 districts of the northern part of Bangladesh.

The Russia-Ukraine war and Western sanctions against Russia have created a major oil crisis in the global market. Many countries are unable to procure the necessary fuel oil. Bangladesh has an annual demand of 70 to 72 million metric tons of fuel oil.

Out of this, the demand for diesel alone is 48 to 49 lakh metric tons, of which the government has to import 80 per cent from different countries. In the current context, it has become difficult to import this amount of fuel oil. Moreover, a huge amount of money has to be spent on the transportation of imported oil. It takes too much time. In such a situation, the government was looking for ways to import diesel from new sources at a low cost.

Earlier, fuel oil used to come from India mainly by rail. The amount of imported oil was 60 to 80 thousand tons per year, which did not play any significant role in the energy needs. Again, it would have required a lot of time and money to transport oil from Chittagong or Mongla to North Bengal by road or river. Now it will be very affordable.

Not only both countries, but mutual cooperation is also absolutely necessary for sub-regional prosperity, including Nepal and Bhutan. Bangladesh currently imports 1,160 MW of electricity from India.

The process of importing electricity from Nepal and Bhutan through Indian territory is similar. On the other hand, two landlocked countries are interested in using Bangladesh’s seaport over Indian territory. India is getting a transit facility in Bangladesh. All four countries belonging to the sub-regional alliance BBIN are expected to come under better connectivity in the near future. All countries will greatly benefit from this. There is no opportunity to walk alone or sit behind closed doors in the present age.

Each pillar of connectivity will become progressively stronger. In order to increase sub-regional cooperation, problems between the countries should be resolved quickly through discussions.

The writer is a freelance columnist.