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India Reviews Progress on Oil Project With Nepal

  • India and Nepal on Tuesday reviewed the progress on the proposed Rs 100-crore crosscountry pipeline project for supplying petroleum products from the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) depot at Raxaul in Bihar to Amlekhgunj in the Himalayan country.The issue came up for discussion between India's commerce secretary Rahul Khullar and his Nepalese counterpart Purushottam Ojha.Currently, petroleum products from Raxaul are "all transported by trucks... so we have that plan to connect Amlekhgunj to Raxaul as it will save cost," Ojha told journalists.He said the project cost was estimated at Rs 84 crore when proposed in 2009. But, it would cost Rs 100 crore now, he said.
  • However, it is not yet clear as to how the resources for the project are going to be raised."We got to look into it, we got to find money for it. Where the money is going to come from.... things don't get sorted out in a meeting," Khullar said.If implemented, the project would reduce transportation cost by 40 per cent and facilitate the movement of fuels to land-locked Nepal, which often faces shortages.Nepal sought increased level of investments from Indian companies.

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