India-Nepal oil pipeline project, Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline project is supposed to expedite sooner as the active participation of Indian Oil Corporation could be seen out.
On the project, Nepal’s 36.2 kilometer route from Raxaul needs to plant the pipeline and the Indian border to Amlekhgunj via Birgunj Customs, Birgunj Bypass, Gandak, Parwanipur, Jitpur, Simara and Pathlaiya connecting Motihari a 32.7 km route pipeline needs to impair.
Although majority of groundwork for the project has been completed, work relating to forest clearance is still pending. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the pipeline project and the Ministry of Population and Environment (MoPE) will soon approve the document.
This task has been pending, as MoPE has not approved the document. As this bill is passed, Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation will have to give the final nod to EIA, which will open the door for IOC to begin construction work.
The Indian government will inject INR 3.5 billion into the project; the expenditure related data from the Nepali side has not been made public yet.
NOC, Simara-Bara project’s Mechanical Engineer Sharad Paudel said, the pipes with 10.75 inch diameter and 8 mm thickness will be laid 25 meters away from the road and five feet below the ground. The pipes will run along the east side of the road from Raxaul to Gandak, while they will run along the west side for the remaining distance.
The so contracted pipes manufactured and supplier company Jindal Pipes Ltd. is the backend bone to macininate the pipeline project. As a warehouse NOC has being using Birgunj Sugar Mill to store the necessary machinery.
The Raxaul-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline was first proposed in 1996. However, the project edged closer to reality during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kathmandu in 2014. The two countries had inked an agreement to construct the pipeline in August of 2015.
