India on Tuesday handed over 20 broad gauge locomotives to Bangladesh Railway to promote people-to-people people connection, trade, and economy between the two countries.

These locomotives, provided as grant assistance from the Government of India, fulfill an important commitment made during the visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina to India in October 2019. 

The event was attended by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bangladesh Minister for Railways Nurul Islam Sujan.

“India’s relationship with Bangladesh is civilizational, cultural, social, and economic. The prime ministers of both countries are playing proactive roles to improve the bilateral relationship across social, economic, and political sectors. Indian Railways are also playing a vital role in improving and strengthening rail connectivity across the border and improving trade between the two countries,” Vaishnaw said.

“As of now, five BG connectivities are operational, namely Geda-Darsana, Benapol-Petrapol, Singhabad-Rohanpur, Radhikapur-Birol, and Haldibari-Chilahati. Work on two more cross-border rail connectivities, Akhaura-Agartala and Mahishasan-Shahbazpur, are progressing well and are likely to be completed and commissioned shortly,” he said.

"These are very modern locomotives with 3,003 horsepower, having a speed of 120 kmph," he said.

The Minister said the supply of locomotives will help to improve both goods and passenger trains. We hope that existing collaboration between two countries regarding the Railways sector will increase day by day.”

Vaishnaw said that around $1.7 billion worth of projects under various programs between India and Bangladesh have been undertaken.

He said 17 projects have been completed and India handed these locomotives to Dhaka in line with a commitment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

Addressing the gathering virtually, Bangladesh Minister for Railways Nurul Islam Sujan said, “I express my gratitude to the Indian Government for their support. Previously in June 2020, Indian Government provided 10 locomotives to Bangladesh as grants. We express our heartfelt gratitude to India for providing broad gauge locomotives.”

The Minister said to enhance people-to-people contact, presently three pairs of passenger trains between India and Bangladesh, namely, Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express, Kolkata-Khulna Bandhan Express, and New Jalpaiguri- Dhaka Mitali Express are running.

According to the Ministry of Railways, Rail trade between India and Bangladesh has witnessed consistent growth, with nearly 100 cargo trains exchanged per month. In the last financial year, approximately 2.66 million metric tons of cargo were transported to Bangladesh. 

DOC, food grains, china clay, gypsum, maize, onions, and other necessities in response to demand from India were also included as exported commodities. The use of parcel containers and NMG rakes, which commonly transport tractors, finished items, fabrics, and agricultural products, has been authorized starting in 2020. Three parcel trains have been sent from Gujarat, and the new geo-synthetic bag trade has just started.

In July 2020, Bangladesh received 10 BG diesel locomotives as a donation as part of India's commitment to enhancing rail services in that country. Reports from Bangladesh indicate that these locomotives have been operating effectively and helping the nation's rail traffic to run smoothly.

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