Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has accelerated the construction of infrastructure to bring petrol, kerosene and other petroleum products through the pipeline by the end of August. Under Motihari-Amlekhganj Petroleum Pipeline Project, the NOC has completed 75 percent of the second phase of the project and is preparing to bring petrol and kerosene through the pipeline by completing the remaining work within the next three months.
Binit Mani Upadhyay, Head of NOC Madhesh Regional Office, Amlekhgunj, said that as the construction of the main tank under the second phase of the Motihari-Amlekhgunj Petroleum Pipeline Project has been completed, other technical works will be completed within three months and the petrol-kerosene will be imported through the pipeline.
“All the major infrastructure construction works under the second phase have been completed. Under the second phase of the project, two petrol tanks with a capacity of 4100 kiloliters were to be constructed. So far, the construction of both tanks has been completed. Overall, the work is being done at the current speed. If it continues, it will be completed within three months,” he said.
The work of connecting the pipeline to the storage of petroleum products is going on. “Some civil-related and electronics and IT related works remain to be completed. But as the work is being done at a fast pace, we plan to complete it within the second week of August,” he said.
The work of connecting the pipeline to the storage of petroleum products is underway. “There are some civil and electronics and IT-related works that are left and the remaining works are also being done at a fast pace, so the work is being done to be completed within the second week of August as much as possible,” he said.
Chief Upadhyay said that with the petrol pipeline coming into operation, the cost of transportation of petroleum products will be reduced by Rs 3 per liter. “On the one hand, transportation costs will be reduced by Rs. 3 per liter, and on the other hand, environmental pollution will also be reduced,” he said. The corporation is currently bringing petrol and kerosene from Barauni in India by tankers. Diesel, however, has been coming in through the pipeline.
According to the office, two transmix tanks with a capacity of 250 kiloliters are being constructed and 24 fully automatic petrol filling stations are being constructed. The NOC had entered into a contract with the Indian company Likhita Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.
According to the contract agreement, the company had to complete the necessary infrastructure construction work by December 2023. The opening program was set in January 2024, but due to the delay by the construction company, the second phase of the work could not be completed within the specified time frame.
According to the NOC, infrastructure including a pump house, A state-of-the-art laboratory, upgrade of the fire fighting system, ‘oil water sprayer’, and a ‘PMCC room’ are being constructed. The corporation and the Indian side are building various infrastructures.
For the implementation of the second phase of the project, the NOC is constructing 4,100 kilolitres capacity petrol tanks, modern laboratories, fire fighting system upgrades and 24 fully automatic petrol filling stations by spending 1 billion 54 million Indian Rupees (IRS).
Likewise, Indian Oil Corporation Limited is also constructing 4,100 kiloliteres capacity tanks, two 250 kilolitres capacity transmix tanks, and 3,000 kiloliters capacity firewater tanks at a cost of INR 600 million.
In 2015, it was estimated that a total of INR 2 billion 750 million would be needed for the pipeline expansion in the first and second phases. According to the plan, in the first phase, the Indian side would spend INR 2 billion and in the second phase, Nepal would spend INR 750 million.
Although INR two billion was spent by India in the first phase of infrastructure construction, the second phase could not be started immediately. Because of this, the cost of the second phase pipeline expansion has increased to INR one billion 54 million.
Both sides are currently building various infrastructures. According to the NOC, the first phase of work has been completed and diesel is being imported through the pipeline from September 11, 2019.
