The Hindu Business Line : Bangladesh flag vessels allowed to load diesel at Silghat temporarily

Kolkata, Nov 21 The Union Government has given temporary permission to Bangladesh flag vessels to load at Silghat, located on the bank of the Brhamaputra river, the diesel produced by Numaligarh refinery in Assam for transportation to Bagabari near Narayangunge in Bangladesh.

Accordingly, two Bangladeshi self-propelled barges have arrived at Silghat for loading the diesel. As per the agreement, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, the owner of Numaligarh refinery, was to execute six monthly shipments of 10,000 tonnes each between July and December 2007. However, not a single shipment has been undertaken so far even as the December deadline approaches. Inquiries reveal that only one or, at best two shipments, totalling around 3,000 tonnes can be undertaken by December. The capacity of Bangladeshi vessels ranges between 1,200 and 1,800 tonnes, it is learnt.

Procedural clearances

The delay is believed to have been caused by the time taken in procedural clearances. The Indian authorities took time to incorporate Silghat as the loading port in the Indian-Bangladesh Protocol on Trade and Transit. The present protocol is valid up to Pandu, also on the Brhamaputra river. But Silghat is located about 100 km north of Pandu on the same river. According to the transportation plan finalised by BPCL, diesel will be first transported by road from the refinery to Silghat where the barge loading will take place for onward shipment to Bagabari.

However, the permission is yet to come from Bangladesh authorities concerned for Indian flag vessels to be deployed for the same purpose, i.e. transportation of diesel from Silghat to Bagabari, it is learnt. This is presumably because the Indian flag vessels to be deployed are yet to be finalised.

Earlier, it was planned that two tanker barges, “Naharkatiya” and “Barauni” acquired on lease by a Kolkata-based river transport company from the state-owned Central Inland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC) would be deployed for the purpose. However, with the two-year lease agreement between CIWTC and the Kolkata-based company having expired and CIWTC declining to renew the agreement, a fresh agreement was signed between CIWTC and a Mumbai-based river transport company. It is not known if the same barges will be made available immediately for transportation of Numaligarh diesel to Bangladesh.

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