President Pranab Mukherjee and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will flag off a freight train from Dhaka Cantonment Railway station comprising locomotives and tank wagons supplied by India. The wagons have been supplied under the $800-million line of credit that India has extended to its neighbour, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs said .
The ceremonial flag-off will be done during Mukherjee’s visit to Bangladesh that begins today (March 3), his first visit abroad since assuming office. Officials said the the locomotives and the presence of Indian double-decker buses on Bangladesh roads demonstrated the fact that India and Bangladesh were making rapid progress on the signing of contracts under the line of credit.
“There will be eight to 10 wagons that will transport fuel, which is important for the power sector,” the official said.
Officials also pointed out that there has been a significant increase in outward investments from India to Bangladesh.
“In the last six months, there were 38 Indian investments registered with Bangladesh Investment Board for about $183 million, with investments from a number of companies, including Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints and Marico,” he added.