KATHMANDU: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) today distributed 336,000 litres of fuel in nine different districts, including the Kathmandu Valley. Of the total fuel distributed, 291,000 litres were diesel and 45,000 litres were petrol, according to NOC. The quantity, however, does not account for the fuel provided to various hotels and diplomatic missions.
Today’s distribution was a part of the state-owned petroleum monopoly’s scheme to provide petrol under the proportional system. Except for Birgunj check point, other entry points in the country have witnessed an increment in the influx of fuel-laden tankers lately.
More than 70 per cent of the total fuel imported in the country enters via the Birgunj check point. The import of fuel from other points can barely meet the demand of the country regardless of the volume of fuel supply.
On a normal day, the Thankot depot in Kathmandu sells around 550,000 litres of diesel and 350,000 litres of petrol. Rabin Sharma, chief of Thankot Depot, told RSS that the depot has not been able to sell even half the quantity of fuel as in the past due to the unofficial border blockade imposed by India on Nepal, which has resulted in the intermittent supply of essential goods, including fuel.
He shared that of the total 1.3 million litres of China-aided petrol, the NOC has already ferried 700,000 litres. The rest will be imported soon. A version of this article appears in print on November 18, 2015 of The Himalayan Times.
