The petroleum ministry has invited bids from companies willing to share Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd's proposed Rs 1,367 crore (Rs 13.67 billion) Mundra-Delhi product pipeline capacity.

The 1,008-km long pipeline would have 25 per cent excess capacity that would be leased to other firms interested in moving their petroleum products on western India to high consumption centres in the north, official sources said in New Dlehi.

The project, which is proposed to be financed in 1:1 debt-equity ratio, would be commissioned in 36 months and would have tap-off points at Palanpur, Ajmer, Jaipur, Rewari and Delhi (Bahadurgarh).

The 316-km Mundra-Palanpur section of the pipeline would have a capacity of transporting 5.8 million tonnes of liquid products like petrol, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel per annum.

The 336-km Palanpur-Ajmer section would have 5.7 million tonnes per annum (mmtpa) capacity, 120-km Ajmer-Jaipur sector would have capacity of 5.2 mmtpa, 171-km Jaipur-Rewari would have 4.6 mmtpa capacity and 65-km Rewari-Delhi section would have 4.2 mmtpa capacity.

HPCL is planning the pipeline as an alternative to IOC's Kandla-Bhatinda pipeline that is being converted into a crude oil pipeline.

The Kandla-Bhatinda line currently transports products to HPCL's petrol stations in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

HPCL, which has over 4,800 petrol pumps all over the country, owns 5.5 million tonnes Mumbai refinery and 7.5 million tonnes Vizag refinery.