Bangladesh and India plan to launch the recently completed India-Bangladesh pipeline on March 18, providing Bangladesh with a cheaper alternative for transporting its diesel imported from India.

According to a Telangana Today's report, Bangladesh's Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen announced on Thursday, March 9, through video conferencing that the country's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will jointly launch the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL) on March 18.

"The good news is India will send us diesel… the (Oil) pipeline has been completed," Momen confirmed to IANS on Thursday night.

Momen's announcement came a week after he held talks with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting last week, adding that India gave "high respect" to Bangladesh delegation throughout the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting reflecting the "excellent" Dhaka-Delhi bilateral relations.

The two premiers attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the IBFPL in September 2018 through video conferencing, marking the start of the incredible project.

According to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) officials, the 130 km pipeline, stretching 125 km inside Bangladesh territory and 5 km inside India, will transport diesel from India to Bangladesh, marking the first cross-border oil pipeline between the two nations.

IBFPL was built at about $42.1 million (Rs 3.46 billion) from the Indian line of credit (LoC). Before the pipeline, Bangladesh imported diesel from India through railway carriages.