Indian Oil to transport fuel to Tripura via Bangladesh on trial basis

The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will soon conduct a trial run for transporting fuel to Indian state of Tripura through Bangladesh.

During the trial run, IOC will transport three LPG tankers and seven tankers of petrol and diesel through Bangladesh from Guwahati, reports The Economic Times. 

The fuel-carrying tankers from Guwahati in Assam will go to Dwaki in Meghalaya, where they will enter Bangladesh. The tankers will re-enter India at Kailashahar in Tripura's Unakoti district to reach IOC's Dharmangar depot in North Tripura. Each LPG tanker can transport 17 mt of gas, while each oil tanker has the capacity of carrying 12,000 liters. 

"IOC has already signed an agreement with the Bangladeshi authorities in Dhaka on August 3. We have sought visas for the drivers and their assistants to drive the tankers through the neighbouring country," a senior IOC official told the Press Trust of India (PTI).

"Once the visas are issued, the LPG and oil tankers will move for the trial run on the alternative road via Bangladesh. We are absolutely ready for this. The process for the trial run has been initiated. If the trial run is successful, IOC will use the alternative road to supply fuel to Tripura in case of unforeseen developments in the future," the official added.

In May, PTI had reported that IOC was planning to transport fuel to Tripura via Bangladesh after floods and landslides devastated the communication links in the Northeastern region.