Pvt Bottlers oppose move

Private sector bottlers have opposed the Nepal Police’s plans to operate an LPG bottling plant.

With private sector plants accused of creating artificial shortages of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a recent meeting coordinated by Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudel and represented by the Nepal Police and state-owned Salt Trading and National Trading had decided to allow the security agency to run a gas bottling plant to boost the government’s supply capacity in the market.

The bottlers and dealers have time and again exhibited the tendency of halting gas supply to mount pressure on the government to fulfill their interest.

Currently, only one state-run enterprise, Salt Trading, has its own LPG plant.
The market has been facing the LPG shortage for the last four months. The crisis began since the Indian Oil Corporation—the sole petroleum supplier to Nepal—started maintenance at its Barauni-based refinery, cutting supplies. The people are still struggling to receive a cooking gas cylinder.

Nepal LP Gas Industry Association protested the government’s move to allow the Police to operate an LPG plant, arguing the move was against the free market policy. The bottlers accused the government of “unnecessarily” intervening in the market. “As there are already too many gas bottlers, adding a new plant will not help regulate the supply,” said Shiva Ghimire, president of the association.

Former Commerce Secretary Purushottam Ojha termed the government’s move “positive”. “At a time when the private sector has failed to ensure smooth supply, the government’s intervention is normal,” said Ojha, adding the government should focus on controlling the cartel more rather than earning profits through the new plant.

According to Ojha, the government had earlier decided to operate the petroleum tankers when transporters disrupted the supply. “The operation of cooking gas under the ‘Salt Trading Company’ brand is an instance of the government’s move in that direction,” he said.

source: e-kantipur