Pakistan may import diesel from India
Secretary level talks have already taken place: Times of India.
India and Pakistan are set strengthen business links in 2012 by trading electricity and petroleum products, according to Times of India.
Talks will start in the second week of January on a 200-km pipeline originating from the Bathinda Refinery to transport surplus diesel from India to Pakistan. Sources said discussions at the commerce secretary level have taken place, and now specialists from the two countries will thrash out the details, when a delegation from Pakistan visits India.
The Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Project – being jointly built by Hindustan Petroleum and LN Mittal’s Mittal Energy Investment Private Limited Singapore – is expected to go on stream shortly and add to the country’s surplus refining capacity. In contrast, Pakistan faces scarcity and will have quicker access to fuel.
Officials said that Hindustan Petroleum -Mittal Energy will gain as the cost of transporting fuel through a pipeline will work out be much less than shipping it.
The contours of the deal are expected to be finalized over the next few weeks, and may be announced when commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma visits Pakistan in mid-February with a business delegation. Apart from minister-level and business-to-business talks, the government has also lined up an India Show to strengthen the recent bonhomie on the trade front.
Meanwhile, officials from the two countries have decided to trade in electricity through a specially-built high voltage direct current link between Amritsar and Lahore. The plan is to transfer 500MW through the Punjab border with the tariff linked to the market rate.
The proposal is awaiting a clearance from the defence ministry before an agreement is signed.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2012.
Talks will start in the second week of January on a 200-km pipeline originating from the Bathinda Refinery to transport surplus diesel from India to Pakistan. Sources said discussions at the commerce secretary level have taken place, and now specialists from the two countries will thrash out the details, when a delegation from Pakistan visits India.
The Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Project – being jointly built by Hindustan Petroleum and LN Mittal’s Mittal Energy Investment Private Limited Singapore – is expected to go on stream shortly and add to the country’s surplus refining capacity. In contrast, Pakistan faces scarcity and will have quicker access to fuel.
Officials said that Hindustan Petroleum -Mittal Energy will gain as the cost of transporting fuel through a pipeline will work out be much less than shipping it.
The contours of the deal are expected to be finalized over the next few weeks, and may be announced when commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma visits Pakistan in mid-February with a business delegation. Apart from minister-level and business-to-business talks, the government has also lined up an India Show to strengthen the recent bonhomie on the trade front.
Meanwhile, officials from the two countries have decided to trade in electricity through a specially-built high voltage direct current link between Amritsar and Lahore. The plan is to transfer 500MW through the Punjab border with the tariff linked to the market rate.
The proposal is awaiting a clearance from the defence ministry before an agreement is signed.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2012.