KATHMANDU, Nov 23: Supply of petrol has dwindled in the Kathmandu Valley after Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) curtailed export of petroleum products to Nepal after the Tihar festival, seeking Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to settle outstanding dues amounting to around Rs 1.50 billion.
“We are receiving just around 1,300 kiloliters of petroleum products a day from Raxaul, the largest import point, for about a week now. This is almost half the normal volume we otherwise receive from Raxaul,” said NOC acting Chief Suresh Kumar Agrawal.
Although NOC officials said they are using existing stock to pump out as much fuel as they can, dealers said the corporation on the day supplied just 308 kiloliters of petrol and 300 KL of diesel on Thursday.
Birendra Goit, chief of the NOC Thankot Depot, the main distribution outlet for the Valley, admitted that the volume pumped out on the day was a meager three-fourth of regular supply in case of petrol and almost half in case of diesel.
As a result, queues of vehicles were seen in all leading refilling stations like Sajha in Pulchowk and Mali Oil Store in Kalimati, among others. “We hope the import will return to normal soon so that we can avoid scarcity from deepening further,” Goit told Republica
However, Agrawal ruled out chances of import going up without the payment of outstanding dues to the IOC.
“We have already informed about the situation to the government and requested it to provide us the fund to clear dues. However, the government has not started the process to release fund as of yet,” said Agrawal.
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