Joint team formed to study petro pipeline
KATHMANDU, NOV 09 -
A five-member joint committee comprising specialists from Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has been formed to conduct a detailed study on the proposed 41-km Amlekhgunj-Raxaul petroleum pipeline.
A bilateral meeting between Nepal and India on Saturday took a decision to this effect. The move is aimed at executing the project through a one-window system, or common package.
The committee, including three specialists from NOC and two from IOC, will study all financial and technical reports and surveys conducted earlier, and prepare a comprehensive report suggesting appropriate financial and technical modalities.
The committee has been given seven days to hold the study.
“After the committee submits its report, it will be forwarded to respective governments for their final approval,” said NOC managing Director Chandika Prasad Bhatta. The committee will call its first meeting on Sunday.
An agreement on laying the cross-border petroleum pipeline is scheduled to be signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal to attend the 18th Saarc summit in November-end.
Jib Raj Koirala, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, led the Nepali delegation, while the Indian delegation was
led by Rajive Kumar, additional secretary at India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
During the meeting, the Indian side asked the Nepali team to complete land acquisition as soon as possible. “The Indian government is keen to expedite the project once the land acquisition work is completed,” said an NOC official.
Besides, the visiting delegation also asked the Nepal government to ensure security for developers.
On Friday, NOC and IOC had agreed in principal to use the Amlekhgunj-Pathlaiya highway—the shortest route—to lay the proposed cross-border petroleum pipeline. The two sides agreed to use the 41km route among three alternatives proposed by a recent survey.
The Amlekhgunj-Pathlaiya road-to-road alignment option includes laying down the pipeline along the 26-km Amlekhgunj-Patliya Road, and 12-km forest areas.
The second option recommended by earlier survey was laying the pipeline on the 12-km forest fire-line and 25-km agricultural land opposite Simara Airport. Similarly, the third one included passing the pipeline through the 17-km railway track in forest areas, 20-km agricultural land and 3-km road.
The estimated project cost is around Rs 9 billion. Of the total cost, pipeline construction and land acquisition costs are estimated at Rs 4 billion. Rest of the funds will be used for other work, including capacity upgradation of NOC’s Amlekhgunj depot, its automation, and construction of a pumping station.
Although issues related to the financial modality has not been finalised and the committee has been asked to recommend the modality, NOC officials said the Indian government would “probably” build the project in grant.
The project is expected to reduce transportation costs by 40-50 percent, help reduce leakage, make the supply cleaner and cheaper and provide relief to Nepali consumers from frequent shortages caused by strikes.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
