KATHMANDU, Sept 10: The prime ministers of Nepal and India are jointly inaugurating the Motihari—Amalekhgunj cross-border petroleum pipeline on Tuesday via a video conference.

According to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's press adviser Kundan Aryal, the two prime ministers are scheduled to jointly inaugurate the first ever cross-border petroleum product pipeline in South Asia from their respective offices at noon. While Prime Minister Oli will take part in the inauguration from Singha Durbar, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will do so from the Haidarabad House in New Delhi.

“This India-Nepal energy cooperation project, the Motihari-Amlekhganj pipeline, is a symbol of our close bilateral relations. It will help to enhance the energy security of the region and substantially cut down on transit costs,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Monday evening.

Government officials said the 70-km long petroleum pipeline will now be used to supply diesel from Motihari, India, in the first phase. The government has made necessary arrangement for Nepal Army to provide security to the pipeline in the Nepali side of the border.

Earlier, the Indian side had released 650 kiloliters of water and subsequently 3,100 kiloliters of diesel to test the functionality of the pipeline in July. Authorities in Nepal and India had then agreed to formally inaugurate the pipeline at the level of prime ministers of both the countries.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) hopes to save Rs 2 billion annually in freight of petroleum products. It is also expected to save millions of rupees extra by reducing the leakage of petroleum products.

Although the petroleum pipeline was first proposed by India in 1995, Nepal and India had reached agreement to expedite the construction of the pipeline in 2015. Government officials said the project was developed at a cost of IRs 3.5 billion. While NOC has borne IRs 750 million, the remaining amount was covered by India under its grant to Nepal.

 
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