A total of 5,000 tonnes of diesel arrived in Parbatipur railhead depot in Dinajpur via pipeline from the Numaligarh Refinery in Assam, India. The shipment arrived late Thursday night (26 March), the depot’s assistant in-charge, Md Jibon, confirmed on Friday (27 March).
Md Jibon said the diesel traveled directly from the Numaligarh Refinery to the Parbatipur depot via pipeline in 60 hours. By 8:00 am on Friday, the fuel was distributed to the Padma, Meghna, and Jamuna depots.
To ensure uninterrupted diesel supply for agriculture-based irrigation in eight northern districts of Bangladesh and for diesel-dependent vehicles, Bangladesh signed a 15-year agreement with India on 22 October 2017. Under this agreement, Bangladesh will receive a total of 180,000 tonnes of diesel through the pipeline in 2026.
So far, Bangladesh has received 5,000 tonnes of diesel through the pipeline up to February this year. Previously, 5,000 tonnes arrived on 11 March. Another 5,000 tonnes reached the depot on Friday, with an additional 5,000 tonnes scheduled for next week.
Additionally, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has proposed importing an extra 50,000 tonnes of diesel via the pipeline over the next four months.