India has decided to beef up Nepal’s energy security by agreeing to establish a two-phased products pipeline, which will eventually carry petroleum products from Raxaul in Bihar to Kathmandu.
The proposed pipeline is part of a larger vision that includes the possibility of a gas pipeline from India to fuel power plants in Nepal. The initiative dovetails with New Delhi’s decision to forge closer energy linkages with the eight countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
India has already decided to build a pipeline channelling diesel and kerosene to Pakistan from its refinery in Bhatinda.
In the first phase, the products pipeline would be built from Raxaul to Amlekhgunj in Nepal, said a joint statement that was issued at the end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal. The decision implements a 2006 proposal, which was not enforced mainly because Nepal Oil Corp (NOC) failed to share the cost of the 41-km-long pipeline with the Indian Oil Corporation.
The petroleum pipeline will be extended to Nepal’s capital in the second phase.
