A Nepal LPG pipeline is moving closer to the design stage. Onlinekhabar reported on October 26, 2026 that Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is speeding up plans for a cross-border pipeline from Motihari in India to Sarlahi, together with a large government-owned storage depot, to stop the cooking gas shortages that follow floods, landslides and road blockages.
What happened with Nepal LPG pipeline
According to NOC’s LPG and Aviation Department head, Binit Mani Upadhyaya, the project won in-principle approval at the fifth ministerial-level meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Working Group in New Delhi. After that meeting, NOC and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) set up a business-to-business committee, exchanged technical documents and began work on a detailed project report (DPR).
Today the government has almost no large-scale LPG storage of its own, so a few days of blocked highways can leave kitchens across the country without gas. The proposed depot is meant to hold enough to cover about a month of national demand.
Source: Onlinekhabar.
Key details
- Length: about 131 kilometres from Motihari to Sarlahi.
- Route: it would follow the existing Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline to Pathlaiya in Bara, then run about 60 to 62 kilometres east to Sarlahi along the left side of the road.
- River crossings: horizontal directional drilling (HDD) is proposed so the pipe passes under rivers and streams.
- Storage: a 50,000-tonne LPG depot in Sarlahi.
- Bottling: a plant able to fill 25,000 cylinders a day.
- Tanker loading: a facility to load at least 100 LPG tankers a day.
- Land: NOC says it already owns more than 14 bighas in Sarlahi, and has shared a soil-testing report with IOC; an updated survey report is about to be sent.
- Cost: an early estimate of Rs 25 to 30 billion. Who pays, and in what form, will be decided by the two governments after the DPR is ready.
Why it matters for homeowners in Nepal
Cooking gas is not a building material, but it shapes daily life in every new house, and the reason this Nepal LPG pipeline is needed is the same reason your build can stall: Nepal’s supply chains depend on a few highways that floods and landslides can cut. The August Bhotekoshi disaster damaged hydropower plants and roads at once. The same weak links slow trucks carrying cement, steel, bricks and sand to your site.
A month of national storage would make gas supply steadier for families after a disaster. It is also a reminder for anyone designing a house: plan the kitchen and gas area safely, with good ventilation and a proper place for cylinders, and do not assume every service will always arrive on time. The project is still at the study stage, so it will take years before households see a difference.
What to do next
- Plan a ventilated, easy-to-reach space for gas cylinders outside or near an outer wall of the kitchen, and keep it away from electrical boards.
- Keep one spare cylinder during the monsoon and festival seasons, when roads are most likely to be blocked.
- For your build, order key materials early when highway problems are reported, and add a time buffer to your schedule.
- Use our house construction cost calculator to set a budget that includes a margin for supply delays.
For more background, see the original report from Onlinekhabar and Khabarhub’s earlier report on the proposal. On our site, read our national pride projects progress report and house construction cost calculator.
How to use construction news when planning your house
News about laws, roads, power and prices can feel far away from a single family house, but each story here changes something practical: what you pay, how long the work takes, or what paperwork you need. Before you start a build in Nepal, it helps to keep a short checklist and update it as the news changes.
- Rules: is your naksa approved, and does your design follow the national building code?
- Materials: where will cement, steel, bricks and sand come from, and how will they reach the site?
- Utilities: when will you apply for electricity and water connections?
- Budget: have you added a buffer for price rises and delays?
- People: are your engineer and contractor registered, and is their scope written down?
A good plan does not remove every risk, but it turns surprises into small adjustments instead of big problems. We follow construction news from Nepal and around the world every day so you can make these decisions with up-to-date information. If you are not sure how a story affects your own project, talk to a registered engineer in your municipality before you change your plans.
FAQ
What is the Nepal LPG pipeline project?
It is a proposed 131 km pipeline from Motihari in India to Sarlahi, with a 50,000-tonne storage depot, a bottling plant and a tanker-loading facility.
How much will it cost?
Nepal Oil Corporation’s early estimate is Rs 25 to 30 billion; the financing model has not been decided.
When will it be built?
No construction date has been announced. IOC is preparing the detailed design and project report first.