Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is preparing to install fuel depot at the under construction Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) will lease required land for the construction of fuel depot at the airport.
NOC has asked CAAN to provide 26160 sq.m land for the construction of fuel depot at GBIA. As per the study, the fuel depot will hold 4 tanks with capacity of 2500 kiloliters each. The 4 tanks will hold a total of 10680 kiloliter fuel.
6496 sq m land will be required for placing 4 fuel tanks whereas remaining land will be used for parking 13 tankers and 3 base for tanker loading and unloading. Similarly, there will be 7 parking spot for refuelers/fuel bowsers.
The fuel depot will feature seven gates including gates for pump unloading, office entrance, contact office, emergency exit, disaster management and vehicles maintenance.
At present, preliminary works related to the construction of fuel depot is going on at GBIA. The estimated cost and time for completion of the project is unknown as required approval is yet to be received from various governing bodies.
The airport’s runway construction has reached its final phase as test flight is expected to happen within the 3rd month of next year.
The main target is to complete the project within 2019 to support ‘Visit Nepal Year 2020’ but the probability for completion before 2020 is less.
There are no high hills, terrains around GBIA so, the airport will be featured with new advanced technologies that will allow aircraft to land and takeoff at minimum visibility.
The cost of the airport project is Nrs. 6.8 Billion out of which 40.5 per cent is loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB), 7 per cent grant from ADB, 30.5 per cent loan from OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and 11 per cent expenditure from Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
