India, Nepal Mull Cross Border LPG, LNG Pipeline

Following the successful collaboration on the 69-km-long Motihari (India) — Amlekhgunj (Nepal) oil pipeline, India and Nepal have agreed to explore the possibility of laying pipelines for LPG and LNG to fuel fertilizer plants and industries in Nepal.

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The Indian Oil Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation will work together on these projects, India's Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the media after visiting Kathmandu, Nepal's capital.

Meanwhile, the Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline project is expected to become operational in 2019.

"India and Nepal are now working together to build the 69-km oil pipeline from Motihari in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal. We believe that the construction of the pipeline will be finished within one year," Dharmendra Pradhan added.

​So far, a 17 kilometer stretch of the 69-km Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline has been completed according to an agreement that was signed by the two countries in 2015. It has the capacity to supply two million tons of petroleum products annually. Nepal is seeking an extension of the pipeline up to Chitwan in the southwestern part of the country.

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During his meeting with Nepal's Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supply, Matrika Prasad Yadav in Kathmandu, the Indian petroleum minister reviewed the bilateral energy cooperation. 

Pradhan and his Nepalese counterpart also inaugurated the construction of a terminal to receive products through the pipeline from India.