India signs historic pact to lay oil pipeline to Nepal
BY PTI25 Aug 2015 12:14 AM GMT
PTI25 Aug 2015 12:14 AM GMT
This will be the first trans-national petroleum pipeline in South Asia. Nepal depends on India for meeting all of its fuel requirements. Petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and jet fuel (ATF) are currently trucked from Indian Oil Corp’s (IOC) depot at Raxaul to Nepal. “The two ministers reviewed bilateral cooperation in the petroleum sector. They agreed that the two sides can work to expand cooperation in oil and gas to several other areas,” it added.
The <g data-gr-id="43">41 kilometre</g> pipeline -- 2 km in India and 39 km in Nepal -- will initially supply petrol, diesel and kerosene. It will be built by IOC at a cost of Rs 200 crore. IOC will take 30 months to complete the project after receipt of necessary statutory clearances from the Government of Nepal.
“Nepal Oil Corporation will invest Rs 75 crore to develop additional facilities in Amlekhgunj depot,” the statement said. In addition, IOC will also do re-engineering of the Amlekhgunj petroleum depot to make it compatible to receive petroleum products by pipeline.
India exports about $1.1 billion worth of petroleum products per annum to Nepal. <g data-gr-id="38">Bulk</g> of this volume will be transported through this pipeline.
“This will also ensure <g data-gr-id="35">smooth,</g> cost effective and <g data-gr-id="36">environment friendly</g> supply of petroleum products to Nepal,” it said.
The pipeline was first proposed in 2006 for <g data-gr-id="34">transportation</g> of fuel from Raxaul to Amlekhgunj. The pipeline was to be funded 50:50 by IOC and Nepal Oil Corp (NOC). The project, however, never took off as Nepal refused to fund its share of <g data-gr-id="33">cost</g>.
IOC has now agreed to foot the Rs 200 crore cost in exchange for Nepal committing to buy products for at least 15 years.
Thermal coal imports soar 24% at country’s biggest 12 ports
Imports of thermal coal jumped 24 <g data-gr-id="119">per cent</g> at the country’s top 12 major ports to 32.54 million tonnes (mt) during the April-July period this year even as the government continues to announce its commitment to boost domestic output, mainly by monolith Coal India.
These 12 ports had handled 26.29 mt of coal during the same period of the last fiscal. Thermal coal is the mainstay of India’s energy programme as 70 <g data-gr-id="125">per cent</g> of power generation is dependent on the dry fuel, while Coal Minister Piyush Goyal has been emphasising the need to increase the production by state-run Coal India. Handling of coking coal, which is used mainly for steel-making, <g data-gr-id="126">however</g> remained flat at 10.56 mt, as per the data released by the Indian Ports Authority.
The ports had handled 10.74 mt of coking coal in April-July period of 2013-14. Together, they handled 43.10 mt coal during the April-July period of the current fiscal as against 37.03 mt in the same period of the previous fiscal.
India is the third-largest producer of coal, after China and the US, and has 299 billion tonnes of resources and 123 billion tonnes of proven reserves, which may last for over 100 years. India has 12 major ports -- Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O <g data-gr-id="122">Chidambarnar</g>, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia)-- which handle approximately 61 <g data-gr-id="123">per cent</g> of the country’s total cargo traffic.
Thermal coal is used in power generation and with the world’s largest miner Coal India, which accounts for over 80 <g data-gr-id="120">per cent</g> of the domestic requirement consistently failing to meet its target as well as demand of the firms, the power plants resort to imports.
Less production coupled with increased demand from power firms is further widening the demand-supply gap in the country, which is likely to widen to 185.5 mt in 2016-17.
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