Nepal-India Prime Ministers KP Sharma Oli and Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate the 69 km Motihari-Amalekhunj Petroleum Pipeline<\/a><\/em> today.<\/p>\n The two Ministers will switch on the pipeline through remote control from their respective offices in Kathmandu<\/a> and New Delhi.<\/p>\n The said project is of utmost importance to Nepal as it will significantly bring down fuel transportation costs for the country, which imports fuel from India.<\/p>\n The pipeline will bring fuel from the Baurani refinery in Bihar\u2019s Begusarai district to Nepal\u2019s Amalekhunj. The Amalekhunj fuel depot has a storage capacity of 16,000 kls of petroleum products.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Earlier this year, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri had termed the petroleum pipeline project as \u2018a game changer for Nepal\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Motihari-Amalekhgunj pipeline will help in tackling the oil storage problem in Nepal and doing away with transportation of petroleum products through tankers. It will ensure smooth, cost-effective and environment-friendly supply of petroleum products to Nepal,\u201d said Puri<\/span>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n The initial cost for the project was estimated at NPR 275 crore, of which India said it would bear NPR 200 crore.<\/p>\n However, the Nepal Oil Corporation (NoC) said that the cost for the project scaled up to around NPR 325 crore.<\/p>\n \u201cCommercial operation of the cross-border fuel project will bring down fuel price by at least one rupee per litre,\u201d said Sushil Bhattarai<\/span>, NOC Deputy Executive Director.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The NoC and the Indian Oil Corporation (IoC) successfully completed the Motihari-Amalekhunj pipeline project test in August 2019. During the test, the IoC supplied 3,100 kls of diesel through the pipeline to test the newly-constructed tanks at Amalekhunj.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to the NoC Deputy Executive Director, the pipeline is able to supply 394 kls of petroleum per hour.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the initial phase we plan to receive only diesel, which is about the 70 per cent of total petroleum product imports, through the pipeline,\u201d said Bhattarai.<\/p>\n Once the pipeline is inaugurated, Nepal will import 3,000 kls of diesel per day.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the commercial operation of the project starts, it will bring down fuel price by at least one rupee per litre in the domestic market,\u201d added Bhattarai<\/span>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n The Motihari-Amalekhunj pipeline project was first proposed in 1996. However, the project was put on hold until Indian PM Narendra Modi\u2019s visit to Nepal<\/a> in 2014. The two nations PMs had then signed an agreement to commence project works in 2015. However, the project was further delayed following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake and India\u2019s economic blockade.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nepal-India Prime Ministers KP Sharma Oli and Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate the 69 km Motihari-Amalekhunj…<\/span><\/p>\nMotihari-Amalekhunj Petroleum Pipeline Project \u2013 Cost<\/h3>\n