Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Oli on Tuesday jointly inaugurated the first ever cross-border petroleum pipeline in South Asia that will ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies to landlocked Nepal to meet its energy demands at a lower cost. The 69 km-long Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline was inaugurated by the two leaders via a video link from their respective capitals. The pipeline, which starts from Motihari in Bihar and ends at Amlekhgunj in Nepal, is first of its kind in the South Asia, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said in a statement.

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), India's largest refiner, built the pipeline, with an investment of over Rs 324 crore, in collaboration with Nepal Oil Corporation Ltd (NOCL), fulfilling the commitment made under an MoU signed in August 2014. The two sides are also working to build additional storage facility at Amlekhgunj Depot which will augment the storage of petroleum products in Nepal towards which NOCL has committed the estimated cost of Rs 75 crore. Reiterating India's commitment to Nepal's development, Prime Minister Modi said the 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. Modi pointed out that it was constructed in a "record time".