NOC increases import quota of LPG for Jan
KATHMANDU:
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) — the state-owned petroleum supply monopoly — has increased the monthly import quota of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for January by additional 3,039 tonnes to ease the supply of cooking fuel as a ‘temporary remedy’.
As per the increased quota, 55 gas bottlers of the country can import 25,416 tonnes in January from earlier quota of 22,377 tonnes.
“We have issued the product delivery order (PDO) adding the amount that they failed to import in the previous month,” said Mukunda Ghimire, spokesperson for NOC, “We are waiting for the report of study panel formed by Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) to decide whether to increase the quota or not.”
He further said that 13,000 tonnes of cooking gas would be imported from Barauni, which is the nearest refinery of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). Likewise, 9,000 tonnes would be ferried from Haldia refinery and rest from Mathura. Though NOC had promised to import 6,000 tonnes of cooking gas from Barauni in a last week of December, only half of that amount has been imported, according to Ghimire. “It might take a week to ease the supply of LPG.”
It is reported that consumption of cooking gas shoots up in the winter season due to extended load shedding. “Apart from households, consumption among commercial users like, five-star hotels, restaurants, industries also nearly doubles in the winter season,” as per Shiva Prasad Ghimire, president of Nepal LP Gas Industry Association.
He stressed that there is no alternative to increasing the quota, which has not been reviewed since three years when the number of cylinders used in the market stood at about 4.1 million. According to him, the number of cylinders used has now increased to 5.5 million.
Though the association has been demanding for more import quota, it is not providing the required documents to the study panel which was formed in the last week of September under the coordination of MoCS Undersecretary Deepak Raj Pandey. The committee comprises NOC officials and the representatives of the association as well.
“It may be easy for the NOC to increase the quota as the international market price of LPG has been falling and loss incurred per LPG cylinder has also gone down significantly,” said Deepak Raj Pandey, undersecretary of MoCS, adding, the representatives of the association, however, have not attended a single meeting.
Ghimire, on the other hand, alleged that NOC is reluctant to increase the quota citing the loss due to subsidised price and the committee is preparing a report favourable to NOC.
“As per our calculation, LPG consumption has been increasing by 13 per cent annually,” Ghimire said. NOC should increase monthly import quota to at least 30,000 tonnes to meet the country’s demand. Bottlers associated with Nepal LP Gas Industry Association were in protest against NOC before the Dashain festival demanding more LPG quota, citing increasing demand across the country.
To end the protest, the MoCS had formed a study panel, which is yet to submit its report to the ministry. NOC officials have been repeatedly saying that they will take decision based on the recommendations of the report.
Meanwhile, the Gas Dealers Federation Nepal (GDFN) has withdrawn the protest programmes announced on December 26. They had threatened the government to halt distribution of cooking gas if the supply situation did not return to normal within 10 days.
“Considering the constitution promulgation deadline of January 22, we decided to withdraw all the protest programmes,” said Kishore KC, president of GDFN.
Source: THT
