- NET Web Desk
The significant Public-Sector Undertaking (PSU) – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will soon conduct a trial-run to explore the possibility of transporting fuel to Tripura via Bangladesh.
During the trial run, the IOC will transport three LPG tankers and seven tankers of petrol and diesel through Bangladesh from Guwahati. Each LPG tanker can transport 17 mt of gas, while each oil tanker has the capacity of carrying 12,000 liters; informed an official on Tuesday.
“IOC has already inked a pact 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,” – asserted a senior official.
“The LPG and oil tankers will move for the trial-run on the alternate paths via Bangladesh, as soon as the visas are obtained. We are absolutely ready for this,” he said.
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.
“The procedure for trial run has been initiated. If the trial run is successful, IOC will provide petroleum to Tripura using the alternate route, in the event of future unanticipated events,” the official said.
“Following the Dima Hasao landslides, Meghalaya’s road connectivity was the only way to reach Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and southern Assam. While, this route is also landslide prone,” – as earlier mentioned by the Indian Oil Corporation Executive Director (IndianOil-AOD) – G Ramesh.
The predicament compelled the IOC, state governments and the Centre to look into alternative ways to supply fuel to the southern regions of northeast.