Kathmandu, March 5

At a time when the government is gearing up to increase the fuel storage capacity in country, a Japanese firm called Cosmos Engineering Co (CEC) Ltd has proposed to government to introduce Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Storage Facilities Project in Nepal.

However, the project has to be funded by government of Nepal itself and CEC will only provide technological support and expertise. Presenting its proposal to Ministry of Industry (MoI) a few days back, CEC has sought permission from government to run a project to this effect in Nepal, which will encompass design, engineering, procurement, transportation and supervision aspects of the project.

CEC has a good track record of engineering and construction of oil and gas plants including LPG storage facilities in Japan.

Submitting its proposal, CEC has highlighted the need to develop LPG storage facilities in Nepal that are similar to those in Japan as both the countries are prone to earthquakes and other natural disasters. Informing that Japan, which is prone to severe natural calamities like earthquakes, has developed LPG plants and facilities that can withstand such disasters.

CEC’s proposal highlights that Japanese technology is appropriate for the development of LPG storage facilities in Nepal. It has proposed to construct all LPG storage facilities in Nepal under the construction modality fixed by ‘High Pressure Gas Safety Law’ of Japan.

“CEC will incorporate its experience, technical knowledge and expertise to ensure sufficient safety measures and stability of the proposed LPG storage facilities,” reads the proposal of CEC.

The Japanese firm plans to provide technical support to the government for the construction of a 15,000-tonne LPG storage facility as planned by Nepal Oil Corporation in the initial stage. CEC has proposed to build ‘Bullet Tanks’ to store LPG in Nepal, which it says are apt for Nepal.

“As soon as our proposal is reviewed and approved by the government, we will immediately start working for detailed design and engineering of the project,” states CEC’s proposal.

Meanwhile, MoI officials have said that they will review the proposal forwarded by CEC before allowing the company to run the project. “It is good to use Japanese technology and expertise while constructing LPG storage facilities in the country and we are quite positive about the proposal,” said Industry Minister Nabindra Raj Joshi, adding MoI will hold discussions with other related government bodies to decide whether or not to allow CEC to develop gas storage facilities in the country.