Guwahati: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has inked a 15-year term sale and purchase agreement with Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to export diesel to Dhaka.
The historic agreement was formally signed between NRL managing director P. Padmanabhan and BPC chairman A.H. Md Rahmatul Muneem, in the presence of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in Dhaka on Sunday.
Under the deal, the BPC will initially take up to 0.25 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) of diesel from the NRL for the first three years via the proposed 133km Indo-Bangla Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL) with a capacity of 1 MMTPA. The quantity will be increased gradually from 0.25 MMTPA to 0.40 MMTPA over 15 years and will come into effect after the pipeline is built.
The process of export will start once the construction of the pipeline is complete. Diesel is moved through rail rakes at present.
"All the formalities are getting cleared and it might take another four to five months. The government's approval will be taken after that. A joint venture company will be formed where NRL will have a stake. The construction of the pipeline will be completed in two years once all approvals are received," an NRL official said. The construction cost of the pipeline is Rs 363 crore.
The deal with the NRL is Bangladesh's first long-term agreement with any Indian oil company.
Earlier, India and Bangladesh entered a new era of petroleum trade with a goodwill train flagged off by minister of state for petroleum and natural gas (independent charge) Dharmendra Pradhan on March 17, 2016, from the NRL's Siliguri marketing terminal to Bangladesh.
"This was the outcome of discussion and affirmative relationship between the two governments, in sync with the Centre's Neighbourhood First Policy to boost bilateral trade between the two countries and sub-regional cooperation within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)," an NRL statement issued on Monday said.
On April 8, another railway rake, containing diesel from the Siliguri marketing terminal to the BPC's Parbatipur depot, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, using a remote-controlled device from New Delhi.
