This pipeline will also facilitate setting up of proposed large-scale industrial projects by Indian giant Tata in Ishwardi.

A well placed source in the Gas Transmission Company Ltd said the gas network will soon reach southern districts also --the other energy-starved region -- beginning from Kushtia and Bheramara. By 2010, the network will cover Khulna.

The new pipeline is transmitting up to 70 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) gas under the Pashchimanchal Gas Company Ltd (PGCL) that was set up four years ago to facilitate gas transmission to the northern districts.

The PGCL was created when the government for the first time set up a gas pipeline on the Jamuna bridge and connected Sirajganj in the north with the national grid that earlier supplied gas only in the country's eastern part from Sylhet to Chittagong. The expansion of gas network then slowed down.

The country presently consumes around 1,450 mmcfd gas.

The northern pipeline is presently feeding gas for domestic use and small industrial belts. The northern as well as southern Bangladesh had so far depended on oil-fired power supply which is very costly for the nation. Consequently, both the regions saw little industrial growth over the decades.

Now the upcoming coal-fired 250 megawatt power plant, and gas-fired ones will trigger a significant industrial growth in the northern districts, GTCL sources believe.

Bogra got high priority under the present government, and about 100 km of gas pipeline network is being set up in the district to ensure wide connectivity. The prime minister's constituency is Bogra, sources mentioned.

The Nalka-Bogra Gas Pipeline Project is split into two sections -- Nalka-Chandaikona pipeline forms section-A and Chandaikona-Bogra pipeline section-B. The GTCL set up 30-inch diameter pipeline for 6 km between Nalka and Hatikumrul, and 20-inch diameter pipeline for 54 km up to Bogra.

The work for setting up the pipeline began last winter.