Kathmandu, December 2

Stakeholders have expressed their commitment to fully support the construction process of the Amlekhgunj-Raxaul petroleum pipeline project, according to Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).

The local people residing along the route of the pipeline project have promised full support during construction. Local industrialists, officials from Nepal Electricity Authority, Department of Roads, Nepal Telecom, Department of Forests and different private sector representative bodies have also pledged their support, said Bhanubhakta Khanal, spokesperson for NOC.

Under the coordination of Secretary at the Ministry of Supply (MoS) Prem Kumar Rai, the MoS had organised a meeting among stakeholders today in Simara, which was aimed at gathering local support for the construction of the cross-border pipeline project.

“We received overwhelming support to expedite the construction process of Amlekhgunj-Raxaul petroleum pipeline from all government bodies and stakeholders. The commitment from local people living along the planned pipeline route, and local organisations along with different ministries and government bodies is key to complete pipeline construction on time,” Khanal told The Himalayan Times, adding that NOC would expedite talks with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to begin the pipeline laying process of the anticipated project as soon as possible.

The Indian consultant company — SM Consultant — which had finalised the detailed engineering report (DER) of the pipeline project on October 17, has finalised Birgunj Customs-Birgunj Bypass-Gandak-Parwanipur-Jitpur-Simara-Pathlaiya-Amlekhgunj route as the pipe-laying route for the project.

According to Khanal, related ministries and their local bodies have said that they would soon start clearing structures that have encroached public land along the planned route of the pipeline project. “We will soon go to the field and start marking the finalised route,” he added.

According to the DER, 4,000 structures including houses, bridges and power transmission lines would have to be shifted to make way for laying the pipeline.

Currently, IOC is studying the DER of the project and is expected to forward it to NOC soon. Once NOC tallies the DER with the field reports of the finalised route for the project, the DER will be sent to the Cabinet for endorsement. This will pave the way for IOC to announce a global tender for the construction work. Pipe laying works of the project are expected to begin within one-and-a-half months after the global tender is called.

NOC and IOC inked a memorandum of understanding to implement the cross-border oil pipeline in August of last year. While 39 kilometres of the pipeline project lies in Nepali territory, two kilometres of the project lies on the Indian side.

The entire project is expected to cost INR 2.75 billion, of which, the Indian government will grant INR two billion while Nepal will inject INR 750 million.

Construction of the cross-border oil pipeline is expected to ensure uninterrupted supply of petroleum products in Nepal.