India, Nepal inaugurate South Asia’s first cross-border fuel pipeline

The first cross-border fuel pipeline in South Asia, the pipeline from Motihari in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal was inaugurated via a video link by the two prime ministers.

Nepal Prime Minister Oli expressed appreciation for early implementation of this important connectivity project, completed much ahead of schedule. He also announced a reduction in the price of petroleum products by Rs2 per litre in Nepal.

Prime Minister Modi said the 69-km Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline, having a capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum, will provide cleaner petroleum products at affordable cost to the people of Nepal. 

Until now, tankers were used to carry petroleum products from India to Nepal as part of an arrangement which is in place since 1973.

In his address, Prime Minister Modi pointed out that it was constructed in a “record time“. Against the deadline of 30 months, the project was ready in just 15 months after the ground breaking ceremony last year during Oli’s visit to India.

Modi welcomed Oli’s decision to pass on the saving in cost to the consumers. “The people of Nepal will benefit by this gesture,” he said.

“This India-Nepal energy cooperation project is a symbol of our close bilateral relations. It will help to enhance the energy security of the region and substantially cut down on transit costs,” the Prime Minister’s Office had said on Monday.

Reiterating New Delhi’s commitment to Nepal’s development, Modi said bilateral projects conceived by the two countries are progressing well and he hoped to jointly inaugurate them with his Nepal counterpart in the coming days.

“Timely completion of projects is the priority of the two governments,” People-to-people relations are the basis of our bilateral ties,” the prime minister said.

He also accepted an invitation by Prime Minister Oli to visit Nepal.