Explain the importance of pipeline in India.

The importance of pipeline:

(i)Pipeline transport network is a new arrival on the transportation map of India. In the past, these were used to transport water to cities and industries.

(ii)Now, these are used for transporting crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas from oil and natural gas fields to refineries, fertilizer factories and big thermal power plants.

(iii)Solids can also be transported through a pipeline when converted into slurry.

(iv)The far inland locations of refineries like Barauni, Mathura, Panipat and gas based fertilizer plants could be thought of only because of pipelines.

(v)Initial cost of laying pipelines is high but subsequent running costs are minimal. It rules out trans-shipment losses or delays.