NOC promises smooth petrol supply in three days

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the sole importer of petroleum products, today promised that it would supply petrol smoothly from Monday.
Acting on the suggestions of a group of Constituent Assembly (CA) members, NOC also agreed to collect advance from petroleum dealers by Sunday and supply the petrol from Monday.
At an interaction with the CA members at the Nepali Congress’ parliamentary party office today, NOC managing director Digambar Jha promised to ensure that petrol was supplied without hitch from Monday. “Cash-strapped NOC also got a letter today from the Finance Ministry saying that the corporation would be given Rs 540 million loan by Sunday,” Jha said.
NOC is earning a profit of Rs 4.11 per litre in petrol. Thus, it would be profitable to import more petrol, as that also help recover the losses in kerosene and diesel, NC leader and CA member Nabindra Raj Joshi said, adding that the government was getting Rs 27.22 revenue through the sale of every litre of petrol. He said alternative to price hike should be seriously explored.
“The price hike is governed by the international price,” said supplies secretary Purushottam Ojha, who is also the chair of the NOC. He admitted that it was imperative to restructure NOC and that it had been unable to implement the suggestions of several committees formed in the past to improve and systemise fuel supply.
The CA members also accused NOC MD and secretary of poor market monitoring as the market was awash with adulterated petroleum products. “How come petrol pumps are out of stocks while shops in the marketplaces are selling bottles of petrol at higher rates?” they questioned.
A group of around 20 young CA members headed by Nabindra Raj Joshi has been holding a gamut of interactions with all stakeholders since a week to solve the petroleum crisis.