Home ›› 04 Aug 2022 ›› News
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Roads and Highways Department (RHD) to let India transport fuel from Meghalaya to Tripura through Bangladesh.
The facility provided on request from the neighboring country will be valid till 30 November 2022. The same kind of MoU was signed with India in 2016 as well but it remained in place for a short period of time, officials said.
India made the request to transport oil through Tamabil-Sylhet-Fenchuganj route using Sylhet Bypass-Rajnagar-Moulovibazar-Shamshernagar-Chaltapur as Indian’s local rail network had been snapped due to massive flood in India’s Assam.
According to the MoU, the IOC will pay TK1.85 for a kilometer to carry per tonne fuel using Bangladesh’s road network, Dr Md Abdullah Al Mamun, Additional Chief Engineer of Technical Services Wing of RHD, who signed the document on behalf of Bangladesh, told The Business Post.
ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, Secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, said India would start transporting after paying fees and getting route permits from the BRTA.
"We have formed a sub-committee to sit with the Indian authorities and finalize all kinds of preparation," he told The Business Post.
Every oil tanker will be allowed to carry the highest 10 tonnes of load per axle. Everyday 80 vehicles will be allowed on the route (40+40 up and down).
Four separate contingents of 10 vehicles can make a round trip through Bangladesh during day time.
Police will escort every fleet from Tamabil to Chaltapur.
According to the documents, the vehicles will need to have route permits, registration and fitness certificate and drivers must have license.
After receiving a list of the vehicles the BRTA will issue them route permit and endorse licenses to drivers and their assistants.
Indian media NDTV in a report published in May this year said after the only rail link connecting Assam's DimaHasao district and Barak Valley, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura with the rest of the country was washed away in May.
The IOC started sending all its supplies by road via Meghalaya at more than double the cost.
After the DimaHasao landslides, the only way to reach Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and southern Assam was the road connectivity via Meghalaya. This route is also landslide-prone, said Indian Oil Corporation Executive Director (IndianOil-AOD) G Ramesh to the PTI.
The situation forced the IOC, the state governments and the centre to scout round for alternative ways to supply fuel to the southern region of the Northeast.
IndianOil-AOD, the company's North East Division, in 2016 sent a few consignments to Tripura via Bangladesh when the supply was badly hit due to pathetic road conditions in Barak Valley in Assam.
"We are trying to revive that six-year-old network as an alternative route. Currently, we are talking to the Bangladesh government through the centre. We are hopeful that positive news will come soon," he added.
"In the first place, we may not send a full convoy. We are looking to send a pilot convoy carrying petrol, diesel and LPG. The pilot consignment may carry 80-120 KL of fuel only," Ramesh said.
The distance for transporting different types of fuel from IOC's Betkuchi Depot to Dharmanagar Depot via Bangladesh will be 376 km, including 137 km inside the neighbouring country, against 579 km on the normal route through the Meghalaya-Barak Valley.
On 09 September 2016, IOC flagged off seven tankers carrying 84,000 litres of kerosene and diesel from its Guwahati Depot to Tripura through Bangladesh for the first time to avoid the dilapidated national highway in Assam.
After the destruction of the rail link, the IOC is supplying all its fuel through the road via Meghalaya. This has added a huge amount to the company's balance sheet, an IndianOil-AOD spokesperson said.
