India to sign a deal for oil pipeline to Nepal

India is likely to next month sign a deal to lay an oil pipeline to Nepal for supply of petrol, diesel and ATF, said Sunil Kumar Thapa, Commerce Minister of the Himalayan nation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Nepal in August had "assured that India will assist in putting up a pipeline," he told reporters after meeting Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan here.
He said he reiterated Nepal's requirement for the pipeline in the meeting with Pradhan.
"We hope before Prime Minister (Modi) visits in November, we will be able sign an MoU on the pipeline," he said.

Nepal will host the 18th SAARC Summit on November 26-27.
Modi in his August visit signalled India's willingness to build the Rs 200-crore pipeline to supply fuel.

Nepal is dependent on India for meeting all of its fuel requirement. Petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and jet fuel (ATF) are currently trucked from Indian Oil Corp's (IOC) depot at Raxaul in Bihar to Nepal.
In 2006, a 41-km pipeline from Raxaul to Amlekhgunj in Nepal was proposed for transportation of the fuel. The pipeline was to be funded 50:50 by IOC and Nepal Oil Corp (NOC). But the project never took off as Nepal refused to fund its share of cost.

IOC in the meanwhile has decided to shift its oil storage depot from Raxaul to Motihari and the pipeline now proposed will be laid from Motihari to Amlekhgunj.
"The pipeline will take 30 months to construct... IOC has already done some studies," he said.
The Raxaul-Amlekhgunj project was to cost about Rs 100 crore excluding the cost of land acquisition and the new line would cost almost double of that.
Thapa had first raised the issue when he met Pradhan on July 30.
"IOC is our main supplier of petroleum products. We want IOC to lay the pipeline," he said. "The ministry is very positive about the pipeline."

Nepal was keen on the pipeline from Motihari to Amlekhganj in view of the traffic congestion and frequent complaints of pilferage and adulteration during trucking.
An IOC official said the pipeline will now be built by the company.