Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum project ops to start from mid-April

The Motihari-Amlkehgunj Petroleum Pipeline project is certain to start operation from coming mid- April onwards.

The project remains as the first cross-border project in the entire South-Asia. Under this project, petroleum products will be imported to Nepal from India via the 70 kilometers pipeline.

Of the total length of the pipeline, as much as 32.25 kilometers is in the Indian Territory (from Raxaul to Motihari) and the other 37.25 kilometers from the India-bordering market Raxaul to Amlekhgunj of Bara in Nepal.

According to the project office, Simara, work related to the installation of pipeline is in full-swing. Towards Nepal side, work on a total 10-kilometer area (one kilometer from Gandak to Parwanipur and nine kilometers in Parsa National Park area) remains to be done.

As told by Office Chief Sharad Prasad Poudel, installation work on around four kilometers of area is awaited.

The project costs over 2 billion Indian rupees of the Indian Oil Corporation and remains in the priority of both Nepal and India governments.

The target to complete the pipe installation work is by coming February.

Around 6,500 large and mature trees around 4,000 small one are needed to be cut off in the Parsa national park area.

Earlier, there was a plan to supply petroleum products to Nepal from Raxual and later it was expanded up to Motihari.

In the initial phase, diesel will be supplied from Patna, the capital of Bihar state 190 kiloliters per hour for the storage at the Amlekhgunj depot and the volume will be increased to 200 kiloliters once the Motihari depot comes into operation. Supplies will include petrol and kerosene in later phase.

According to the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), of the total demand for diesel at home, around 60 per cent supply shall take place via the pipeline.

Presently, of the total import of petroleum products, some 50 per cent is made through the Birgunj point. The project was introduced and implemented materialising the 2004- agreement reached between the NOC and IOC.

The project had started making progress following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitments to accelerating it during his address to the Nepal's parliament (then Constituent Assembly) about five years ago.

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Indian Prime Minister Modi jointly inaugurated the project from New Delhi-based Hyderabad House by laying the foundation for the pipeline project during the former's India visit last April.