Mumbai-Manmad Pipeline

The Mumbai Manmad Pipeline(MMPL) was one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. The project commenced in mid 1998 and involved the laying of a 250 km long petroleum product pipeline from Mumbai, on the Arabian sea coast to Manmad, near Nashik, located in North-Eastern Maharashtra. Subsequently, by March 2007, the The pipeline has been extended from Manmad to Bijwasan near New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The total length of the MMPL pipeline, from Mumbai to the outskirts of New Delhi, is approximately 1500 km. The MMPL department in Bharat Petroleum is currently headed by Mr G S Wankhede, who is the General Manager of the Operations. Below him, in the hierarchy are Mr N Manohar Rao and Mr L R Jain. The MMPL department has set high standards in the field of product pipelines. The experience in laying the Mumbai-Manmad-Bijwasan pipeline is being utilised by Bharat Petroleum to lay a crude oil pipeline from Wadinar on the Kathiawad coast to Bina in Madhya Pradesh, where a new refinery is coming up. The success achieved by the MMPL department has made it almost certain that the pipeline department will become a "strategic business unit" or SBU of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in the near future.

The latest cutting edge technology is used for operations as well as maintenance works. Online monitoring of the status of the product and pipeline has been made possible by the use of SCADA (Supervision Control and Data Acquisition) Software. Advanced techniques are also employed in pigging operations. The department also conducts studies in various aspects of pipeline management, like minimising interface, cathodic protection, etc.