Prime Ministers from Nepal and India today jointly inaugurated the first cross-border petroleum pipeline in South Asia through a video conference via remote control. Both the prime ministers switched on the pipeline from their respective offices at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu and Hyderabad House in New Delhi via videoconferencing.
“The formal inauguration took place after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi pressed a switch through a live video conference connecting the Prime Minister’s Office at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu, and Office of the Indian Prime Minister in New Delhi with Amlekhgunj-based oil depot of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and Motihari-based depot of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC),” according to a Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
“I thank my friend Modiji and the Government of India for the completion of the project ahead of the deadline. Congratulations to the Nepali team associated with the project,” Oli tweeted, after the inauguration.
Likewise, Modi wrote in a tweet: “It's a matter of great satisfaction that South Asia's first-ever cross-border petroleum pipeline has been completed in a record time. This project has been completed in half the time than expected. The credit goes to your leadership, Government of Nepal and our joint efforts.’
The 69-kilometre-long pipeline will transport fuel from India’s Barauni refinery in Bihar to Amalekhgunj in Nepal. Of the 69 kilometres, some 36 kilometres of the pipeline is on the Nepali side and the rest on the Indian side.
In Singha Durbar foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav, Indian ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri were present, whereas Nepali ambassador to India Nilambar Acharya was present with the Indian Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi during the inauguration. Likewise, executive director of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) JP Sinha handed over diesel in a pot to executive director of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) Surendra Paudel after the inauguration by both the prime ministers.
First proposed in 1996, the Motihari-Amlekhgunj cross border petroleum pipeline finally moved forward after Indian PM Modi’s visit to Kathmandu in 2014. Then Indian Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and then Commerce and Supplies Minister Sunil Bahadur Thapa signed a pact in August 2015 to get the pipeline project rolling. But the devastating earthquakes in 2015 delayed the construction of the project, finally completing before the deadline, in fact in record time, also making it the fastest completed bilateral project between the two countries.
If operated for 15 hours daily, the 10-inch diameter pipeline with a capacity of 2 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) can supply around 4,000 kilolitres of petroleum products in a day and 294-kiloliters per hour. The Nepal-India cross border petroleum pipeline is expected to help solve the oil storage problem in Nepal apart from ensuring continuous, quality and eco-friendly supply of petroleum products to Nepal, and reduce transit costs that will bring the price of the petroleum prices down.
The supply of fuel from the pipeline is estimated to save Rs 2 to Rs 5 per liter spent in transportation of the products through tankers.
According to a press note issued by the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, the pipeline is equipped with the latest SCADA tele-supervisory system and the most advanced leak detection system. “The signals of any tinkering or damage to the pipeline will be received through the optic fibre cable along the pipeline at the control centres, including at Amlekhgunj depot,” the press note reads adding that the total project cost stands at Rs 3.5 billion Indian Currency (IC), out of which Rs 750 million IC is borne by the NOC and the remaining portion is covered through Indian grants. “The IOC and NOC are also working to build an additional storage facility at Amlekhgunj depot, which will augment the storage of petroleum products in Nepal.”
IOC has started supplying petroleum products to NOC way back in 1974.
“The formal inauguration took place after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi pressed a switch through a live video conference connecting the Prime Minister’s Office at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu, and Office of the Indian Prime Minister in New Delhi with Amlekhgunj-based oil depot of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and Motihari-based depot of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC),” according to a Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
“I thank my friend Modiji and the Government of India for the completion of the project ahead of the deadline. Congratulations to the Nepali team associated with the project,” Oli tweeted, after the inauguration.
Likewise, Modi wrote in a tweet: “It's a matter of great satisfaction that South Asia's first-ever cross-border petroleum pipeline has been completed in a record time. This project has been completed in half the time than expected. The credit goes to your leadership, Government of Nepal and our joint efforts.’
The 69-kilometre-long pipeline will transport fuel from India’s Barauni refinery in Bihar to Amalekhgunj in Nepal. Of the 69 kilometres, some 36 kilometres of the pipeline is on the Nepali side and the rest on the Indian side.
In Singha Durbar foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav, Indian ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri were present, whereas Nepali ambassador to India Nilambar Acharya was present with the Indian Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi during the inauguration. Likewise, executive director of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) JP Sinha handed over diesel in a pot to executive director of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) Surendra Paudel after the inauguration by both the prime ministers.
First proposed in 1996, the Motihari-Amlekhgunj cross border petroleum pipeline finally moved forward after Indian PM Modi’s visit to Kathmandu in 2014. Then Indian Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and then Commerce and Supplies Minister Sunil Bahadur Thapa signed a pact in August 2015 to get the pipeline project rolling. But the devastating earthquakes in 2015 delayed the construction of the project, finally completing before the deadline, in fact in record time, also making it the fastest completed bilateral project between the two countries.
If operated for 15 hours daily, the 10-inch diameter pipeline with a capacity of 2 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) can supply around 4,000 kilolitres of petroleum products in a day and 294-kiloliters per hour. The Nepal-India cross border petroleum pipeline is expected to help solve the oil storage problem in Nepal apart from ensuring continuous, quality and eco-friendly supply of petroleum products to Nepal, and reduce transit costs that will bring the price of the petroleum prices down.
The supply of fuel from the pipeline is estimated to save Rs 2 to Rs 5 per liter spent in transportation of the products through tankers.
According to a press note issued by the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, the pipeline is equipped with the latest SCADA tele-supervisory system and the most advanced leak detection system. “The signals of any tinkering or damage to the pipeline will be received through the optic fibre cable along the pipeline at the control centres, including at Amlekhgunj depot,” the press note reads adding that the total project cost stands at Rs 3.5 billion Indian Currency (IC), out of which Rs 750 million IC is borne by the NOC and the remaining portion is covered through Indian grants. “The IOC and NOC are also working to build an additional storage facility at Amlekhgunj depot, which will augment the storage of petroleum products in Nepal.”
IOC has started supplying petroleum products to NOC way back in 1974.
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