Disruptions in supplies of major petroleum products to Nepal were not due to blockades by India, said Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

In reply to a question, Pradhan said, “Supplies were disrupted due to obstructions at several of the India-Nepal border crossings by the disaffected sections of the Nepalese population on their side. There was no blockade by India. Despite obstructions, a large number of cargo trucks have passed through those crossing points that were open and available.”

The Minister added that within the logistical constraints, the government tried to meet Nepal’s requirement to the extent possible and even tried to reroute the tankers through other available crossing points.

“Airlift of aviation fuel, including flight clearance for third country supplies was also permitted,” he said.

There was no official information available on whether Nepal and China or Nepal and Bangladesh have signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the supply of petroleum products, he added.

Meanwhile, to a separate question, Pradhan said that HPCL along with GAIL (India) Ltd have carried out a pre-feasibility and configuration study for a 15-million-tonne per annum refinery and petrochemical complex in Andhra Pradesh.

They are also carrying out a detailed feasibility report for a standalone petrochemical project in Andhra Pradesh along with market study for petrochemicals which is to be completed by June 2016.

The Minister said 2,000 acres have been sought by HPCL for the project and three sites have been offered by the State government.

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