Bangladesh to get Indian diesel after long delay

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After a long delay, Bangladesh is going to receive diesel supply from India, reports UNB.
According to a news published in Kolkata, the first consignment of 1,200 tonnes - loaded in two barges of 600 tonnes capacity, left last week from Silghat, the refinery's nearest loading point on the Brahmaputra river, and arrived at Guwahati for customs and other clearances.
Two other barges, one of 1,200-tonne capacity and the other 600-tonne, are currently being loaded at Silghat in Assam and will leave for Bangladesh shortly. With this, a total of 3,000 tonnes are to be imported from India in the current year.
The four barges deployed for the purpose have been supplied by a Mumbai-based river transport company.
According to agreement with Bangladesh, Numaligarh Refinery is to supply 10,000 tonnes of diesel every month. However, the agreement expires on December 31, 2007. This means, the agreement has to be renewed before further shipments can take place.
As per the agreement, the shipments were to take place between May and December 2007. But that did not happen. The first shipment is now taking place. Silghat is the loading port under the India-Bangladesh protocol.
"Discussion with the Bangladesh authorities concerned is in progress at the appropriate level for the renewal of the agreement," according to a spokesman for Numaligarh Refinery. "Bangladesh is keen to continue importing diesel from Numaligarh."
The spokesman estimated that a few more vessels would be needed if the targeted 10,000 tonnes a month is to be achieved. The average turnaround time being 14 days, the existing vessels can handle at the most 3,000 tonnes a month.
"From the refinery side we've no problem in supplying 10,000 tonnes a month provided there are barges to transport it," he said.
Asked if more vessels were being chartered, the spokesman replied that the chartering of the vessels was being done from Mumbai by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, the major shareholder of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd.
"But then having more vessels will serve no purpose until the agreement governing the shipment between the two countries is renewed," he added.