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Pranab, Hasina jointly inaugurate Indian BG locomotives, tank wagons

. UNB, Dhaka
Visiting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday jointly inaugurated the commissioning of broad gauge locomotives and tank wagons of Bangladesh Railway (BR), which were supplied under the Indian Line of Credit.
The Indian President and the Bangladesh Prime Minister jointly flagged off a locomotive with 20 tank wagons and one brake van from the Cantonment Station here at a simple ceremony in the morning.
Director General of Bangladesh Railway Mohammad Abu Taher briefed newsmen at the function about the various development activities of the Bangladesh Railway that has been taken under the Indian line of credit.
He said that eleven railway projects have already been undertaken at a cost of US$ 630 million out of the US$ 736 million allocated for 14 projects under the one billion dollar Indian line of credit.
"Two more projects are awaiting inclusion under the Indian line of credit," Abu Taher said. He informed that the state-run BR is procuring 26 BG locomotives from Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) against two contracts to replace the age-old locomotives which have crossed their economic life.
Bangladesh Railway DG mentioned that the BR is also procuring 165 broad gauge tank wagons with 6 brake vans from Texmaco, India for carrying fuel to different power plants of the Power Development Board and others.
Following the decision of the joint communiqué signed on January 10, 2010 between Bangladesh and India during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina' s visit to New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh announced the one billion dollar Indian line of credit for Bangladesh that included railway infrastructure and procurement of broad gauge and meter gauge rolling stock.
The loan agreement was signed on August 7 in 2010 between Bangladesh government and EXIM Bank of India in the presence of the then Indian finance minister and currently the President, Pranab Mukherjee.
The Railway DG further informed that as per the delivery schedule, the supply of BG locomotives was supposed to commence in April 2013 at the rate of two locomotives per month and BG tank wagon in March-May 2013.