Nepal and India have signed a Business-to-Business (B2B) Framework Agreement to develop petroleum infrastructure in Nepal. The agreement was signed by Dr. Chandika Prasad Bhatta, Executive Director of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), and Senthil Kumar, Director of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Limited, during a program held in Nepal today.
Also in attendance were Pankaj Jain, Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and V. Satish Kumar, Chair of the IOC. The IOC highlighted the agreement on social media as a significant milestone in the energy partnership between India and Nepal.
Under the B2B Framework, a 50-kilometer petroleum pipeline will be constructed from Siliguri, India, to Charaali, Jhapa, Nepal. Additionally, a Smart Greenfield Terminal with a capacity of 18,900 kiloliters will be built at Charaali.
The Indian government will also provide a grant for a project to construct a 62-kilometer petroleum pipeline from Amlekhgunj to Lothar in Chitwan. At Lothar, the NOC will build a Smart Greenfield Terminal with a capacity of 91,900 kiloliters, with technical assistance from the Indian government. The total cost of these projects is estimated at Rs 15 billion.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this initiative was initially signed during former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to India in May-June 2023.