DHAKA, March 15 (ANI): Bangladesh will import an additional 45,000 tonnes of diesel from India by April, a senior official confirmed on Sunday.
“Recently, 5,000 tonnes of diesel arrived in Bangladesh from India, and we will receive another 5,000 tonnes around March 18 or 19,” Md. Murshed Hossain Azad, General Manager (Commercial and Operations) of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), told ANI over the phone.
“We have also received a proposal to import an additional 40,000 tonnes of diesel from India. Once the procedural work is completed, including the opening of the letter of credit and other formalities, the shipment will arrive in Bangladesh by April,” he added.
Previously, diesel imports from India to Bangladesh were transported through railway wagons. However, this changed after the launch of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline.
In March 2023, then Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline. Since then, diesel has been supplied from India to Bangladesh through the pipeline.
Under this arrangement, diesel is regularly transported from India’s state-owned Numaligarh Refinery Limited to the Parbatipur depot in Bangladesh through the cross-border pipeline.
The previous interim government in Bangladesh, led by Mohammad Yunus, had halted diesel imports from India through the pipeline.
However, after the recent election and the formation of the government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, diesel imports through the pipeline resumed in recent days with a shipment of 5,000 tonnes.
Amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, large crowds had gathered at petrol stations across Bangladesh to purchase fuel for vehicles, prompting concerns about panic buying.
To control the situation, the government temporarily imposed rationing on fuel sales. That restriction has now been lifted.
Authorities said the decision was also taken ahead of Eid, the largest religious festival for the Muslim community in Bangladesh.
The government said lifting the rationing would allow people to travel more easily from major cities to their hometowns to celebrate the festival with family members. (ANI)
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