India, Bangladesh in Gas Pipeline Talks

New Delhi is in talks with Dhaka to build a gas pipeline from the Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong to the northeastern Indian state of Tripura, Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said August 7 in Agartala, the capital of Tripura, reported Press Trust of India.

Pradhan said the pipeline will help meet the shortage of LPG in the northeastern region of India. The Indian oil ministry has been pursuing the matter diplomatically and soon a team will visit Bangladesh, he added.

The pipeline, if approved by the Bangladesh government, would be laid by the side of the rail lines which pass near the Indo-Bangla international border, Press Trust quoted the minister as saying.

The present Narendra Modi government has been focusing on building gas infrastructure in the remote northeastern region of the country, where demand for fuel is growing rapidly.

Shardul Sharma