NEW DELHI: An agreement has been reached between Nepal and India for the construction of two petroleum pipelines — from Siliguri of India to Jhapa, Nepal; and from Amalekhgunj of Bara to Lothar of Chitwan.
India will provide around Rs 17 billion for the construction of pipelines while Nepal has to construct a storage facility at its own investment.
The government of Nepal has prioritised the construction of pipelines to reduce the huge chunk of money the country has been spending on the transportation of petroleum products.
Two petroleum pipelines will be constructed for an easy and smooth supply of petroleum products. Similarly, storage will be constructed in Jhapa.
Although Nepal Oil Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation had been holding discussions for the construction of the pipelines for a long, no agreement was reached in this regard.
An agreement has been reached at the government level to forward these projects in the course of PM Dahal's four-day official visit to India.
According to the Executive Director of Nepal Oil Corporation, Umesh Prasad Thani, two pipelines and a terminal of Jhapa will be constructed with grants provided by India. Previously, the NOC had said that a study had been conducted to construct Siliguri-Jhapa, and Amalekhgunj-Lothar petroleum pipelines and storage facilities in Jhapa and Chitwan.
The construction of projects will be expedited. The total cost of these four projects has been estimated at Rs 17 billion as per the report jointly prepared by NOC and IOC in 2021. However, the cost may increase slightly due to price hikes at the international level.
According to NOC, the distance of Amalekhgunj-Lothar pipeline is 62 kilometres while Siliguri-Jhapa pipeline is 50km. The capacity of Jhapa storage facility will be 42,000 kilolitres and of Lothar terminal 103,150kl.
(With inputs from RSS)
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Published Date: June 1, 2023, 12:00 am
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