KATHMANDU, Oct 27: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is extending the Motihari-Amlekhgunj Petroleum Pipeline to Lothar, Chitwan. The pipeline from Motihari to Amlekhgunj became operational last month.
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav inaugurated the pipeline extension work at a function on the premises of the Amlekhgunj depot, Saturday.
The minister also inaugurated the survey work for a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline from Motihari to Chitwan .
The Motihari-Amlekhgunj Petroleum Pipleine is meant for facilitating the supply, transportation and distribution of petroleum products. The trans-border pipeline is 36.8 kilometers long on the Nepal side. Besides extending the pipeline to Chitwan NOC is also to increase the storage capacity at the terminal.
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The state-owned oil monopoly has been carrying out preliminary work for the LPG pipeline from Motihari of India to Lothar, Chitwan and also for the construction storage facilities .
The petroleum pipeline from Amlekhgunj to Chitwan will be 62 kilometers whereas the LPG pipeline will be 98 kilometers.
The pipelines will supply 290 kilolitres of petroleum products and 100 tons of LPG gas per hour. Storage facilities to be constructed in Lothar will have a capacity of 100,000 KL of petroleum products and 20,000 metric tons of LPG.
The survey will be carried out jointly by Nepal Oil Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation. The survey work will consist of different layers such as reconnaissance survey, finalization of pipeline route, detail engineering survey and soil engineering survey.
Though the exact level of investment required will become known only after the detailed project report (DPR), preliminary cost estimates for the petroleum pipeline from Amlekhgunj to Chitwan are Rs 5.67 billion. Construction of the storage will require Rs 4.19 billion . Total estimates amount to Rs 9.86 billion.
Similarly, the estimated construction cost of the LPG pipeline project from the Nepal-India border to Lothar is Rs 15 billion. Of this, Rs 11.19 billion will be for the construction of the pipeline and Rs 3.81 billion for the storage.
The project is expected to reduce the import cost of petroleum products.
