Indian government hands over 10 diesel locomotives to Bangladesh

India handed over 10 diesel locomotives to Bangladesh on July 27, 2020. The move will provide the neighboring country mobility solutions for both the intra-country and inter-country movement.

The virtual event of handing over the locomotives was flagged off in the presence of Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal and his Bangladeshi Counterpart Md Nurul Islam Sujon, External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar and his Bangladeshi counterpart, AK Abdul Momen and Suresh Angadi, Minister of State for Railways.

The physical location of the locomotives handover was Gede Station of the Eastern Railway in the West Bengal’s Nadia District. The receiving station will be Darshana station in Darsana, Bangladesh.

Significance:

Indo-Bangladesh railway collaboration is a vital element of the Bilateral cooperation in promoting connectivity and trade and in boosting the economic partnership.

Both the countries have been jointly working to enhance rail connectivity by developing some crucial railway projects and by restoring some of the old rail links with Bangladesh.

Rail Links between India and Bangladesh:

•   Currently, there are four operational rail links between India and Bangladesh which connects West Bengal with Bangladesh, including Gede (India)- Darshana (Bangladesh), Petrapole (India)-Benapole (Bangladesh), Radhikapur (India)- Birol (Bangladesh), Singhabad (India)- Rohanpur (Bangladesh).

•   Two passenger trains- Maitree express (Kolkata-Dhaka) runs for 5 days per week and Bandhan Express (Kolkata-Khulna) runs for 2 days per week.

•   At present, the movement of the passenger trains between India and Bangladesh has been temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Railway projects between India and Bangladesh:

•   A total of 17 Railway projects have been included in the Line of Credit Assistance which was extended by India to Bangladesh, with a commitment of USD 2.44 billion.

•   All Line of credit has been offered by India to Bangladesh at an interest rate of 1% per annum, with repayment over 20 years with a moratorium of 5 years.

•   Out of the 17 railway projects, 9 have been successfully completed, which includes the supply of BG/MG locomotives, railway bridges and signalling equipment, flat wagons among others.

•   Railway projects under implementation using LoC assistance include- Khulna-Mongla Railway line project which is likely to be completed by June 2021 and Kulaura-Shahbazpur railway line which is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

•   Three other projects are at various stages of implementation pertaining to a double line track, conversion of meter gauge line to dual gauge line, and a new dual gauge line.

•   A cross-border rail link of approximately 12 km is also being built under the grant-in-aid between Agartala and Akhaura town on the Dhaka Chittagong trunk line which is likely to be completed by March 2021. It will also further enhance the freight and passenger connectivity between India and north-eastern states.