Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd will invest Rs 631 crore (Rs 6.31 billion) in extending its 609-km Mumbai-Manmad-Indore petroleum product pipeline to Piyala, near Delhi.

"BPCL board on March 29 decided to lay a 16-inch 686-km pipeline from Mangalia, near Indore, in Madhya Pradesh, to Piyala, near Palwal, in Haryana," company sources said in New Delhi.

The pipeline, which will have tap-off point at Mathura and an 8-inch, 55-km spur line from Piyala to Bijwasan, would provide an independent route for taking products from BPCL's Mumbai refinery to the northern region market.

The pipeline would also provide a suitable mode for evacuation of products from the proposed Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh, which will be only 100 km away from the pipeline network.

"The construction of the entire pipeline system will mean becoming less dependent on Indian Oil Corporation which is developing a new product pipeline link from Koyali to Sanganer via Sidhpur and Panipat to Rewari via Bijwasan which will eventually lead to attachment of markets only to their inland refineries," they said.

Incidentally, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd also plans to build a 1,000-km-long product pipeline from Mundra to Delhi, passing through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana.

"We want to set up pipelines in the northern region to reduce its dependence on IOC for product supplies," sources added.