Indian Oil Corporation is set to commission a 95-km pipeline to move aviation turbine fuel (ATF) from its refinery at Manali to the airport in India.
The pipeline costing Rs 60 crore (9.4 million) has been completed and will be commissioned in February.
Quality trials using water are underway to rule out leakage and other defects, a senior official of Indian Oil, says. The idea is to equip the pipeline for continuous supply of ATF after it is commissioned.
The pipeline will help Indian Oil move ATF from the Manali refinery to storage terminals at the airport without depending on expensive and time-consuming container trucks.
This will ensure a hassle-free supply of 3,000 kilo litres of jet fuel, the installed capacity of IndianOil's terminal at the airport.
Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum also supply ATF to the airport, while Reliance's 1,000-kilolitre ATF storage terminal will be ready in a couple of months.
At present, around 25 oil tankers are engaged by the three oil companies to transport ATF to the airport.
