NOC asks govt to release Rs 3bn loan

KATHMANDU, AUG 29: 

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has asked the government to release a loan of Rs 3 billion to maintain smooth supply of petroleum products. 

NOC has to pay Rs 3 billion to its sole supplier –– Indian Oil Corporation –– said acting managing director of NOC Suresh Kumar Agrawal, adding that the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies will ask the Finance Ministry to provide the loan. The corporation has to 

receive a refund of Rs 1.24 billion Value Added Tax (VAT), he said. It can maintain supplies if the VAT refund is released on time by the Finance Ministry, he added.

The government should provide a loan on time for the smooth supply of petroleum products during the festival season, he informed. “The consumption of petroleum products increases during festivals,” he said, adding that short supply during the festival season will have an adverse impact on the whole supply system. 

The government should either allow NOC to adjust the price of petroleum products or should provide subsidy, he said.

The corporation traded petroleum products worth Rs 90 billion in fiscal year 2011-12, 

according to it. It incurred a loss of Rs 10 billion from the trade 

of petroleum products in the last fiscal year.

Source: THT