India studies imports via railway

With the petroleum pipeline project unlikely to materialize anytime soon, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) is conducting a study to assess whether bringing petroleum products through railway will be feasible. “As of now, we have been importing petroleum products through motorways,” MoCS Secretary Purushottam Ojha said. The study comes at a time when Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) started work to relocate the Raxaul-based oil depot to Chhapawa. A study team, comprised of senior MoCS officials and the Nepal Oil Corp.,  said the fuel imported through railway will be brought into the depot , then transported through motorways to the Amlekhgunj oil depot and other destinations. Transporting petroleum products by railway would cost less, as the Broadgauge Rail Line could be used from Raxaul to Sirsiya Port. (September 22, 2010)