ADB loans Bangladesh $230 mln for gas supply

DHAKA, June 18 (Reuters) Bangladesh and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Sunday signed a 0 million loan package to improve the country's natural gas infrastructure and delivery system.

Norway is providing million in a grant for capacity building component of the project, a ADB statement said.

The project will construct four gas transmission pipelines totaling 353 km (221 miles) to transport about 360 million cubic feet of natural gas a day to the less developed western region of the country, covering an area with a population of nearly 15 million.

About 320 km of gas distribution pipelines will also be constructed to create a new distribution network in the Rajshahi area in western Bangladesh.

Based on an ADB-financed study, Petrobangla, the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Minerals Corporation, has formulated an investment plan for the period 2002-2020 that envisages