Pranay Verma inaugurates NRL liaison office in Dhaka

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pranay Verma today inaugurated Assam based fuel oil refinery company Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL)'s liaison office in Dhaka.

NRL Managing director Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan and Meghna Petroleum Ltd Managing director Md. Tipu Sultan accompanied the Indian envoy, among others, during the launching of the NRL liaison office, said a press release issued by Indian High Commission.

In his remarks, Verma said with the inauguration of the liaison office, NRL would be able to more effectively explore such collaborations with the Bangladesh authorities in the future for supply petroleum products.

NRL was established as a Company on 22 April 1993 in Golaghat, Assam is a Category-I Miniratna CPSE under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.

Verma said that India and Bangladesh have made unprecedented progress in advancing relations between our two countries in the last decade.

"One of the key manifestations of that transformation, he said, is the growth in bilateral trade and economic engagement and connectivity links," he added.

He further said that collaboration in the Power & Energy sector has become one of the hallmarks of this all-encompassing relationship and the Friendship Pipeline is a testament to the growing partnership in this important sector.

The Friendship Pipeline Project, which was jointly inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and India virtually on 18 March 2023, is the first cross-border pipeline for supply of petroleum products to Bangladesh.

This pipeline has a capacity to transport One Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) of High-Speed Diesel and has been completed at a total estimated cost of over INR 375 Crore, of which, over INR 285 Crore has been spent for construction of the Bangladesh portion of the pipeline under a Government of India grant.

Since the inauguration of the pipeline last year, 42 TMT of diesel with a total value of USD 34 million has been exported to Bangladesh.

With the completion of the pipeline, cross-border supply of High-Speed Diesel is being done faster and more economically with a minimal carbon footprint putting in place a sustainable, reliable and cost-effective way of transporting High-Speed Diesel to Bangladesh.