Money
LPG dealers threaten to halt sales if shortage continues
Gas Dealers Federation Nepal on Friday warned Nepal Oil Corporation that it would be forced to halt sales of liquefied petroleum gas if the current shortage was not resolved urgently.The federation has given the government a 10-day ultimatum to end the scarcity that has spread across the country. “If the supply is not increased instantly, we will be compelled to close our shops,” said Arjun Prasad Devkota, vice-president of the federation.
LPG shortages reappear routinely during the winter season when demand swells tremendously. People use LPG not only for cooking but also to heat water because it is more cost effective than electric geysers. Besides, extended load-shedding hours during the cold months push up demand.
Devkota said that the crisis was severe outside the Kathmandu valley. “A number of LPG dealers in Palpa, Butwal, Janakpur and Pokhara have already closed their shops,” he added.
However, NOC said that the shortage was due to a cut in supply from the Barauni refuelling plant of Indian Oil Corporation that supplies around 70 percent of Nepal’s total requirement.
The refuelling plant is undergoing repairs which will last for more than a month. Shiva Prasad Ghimire, president of the Nepal LP Gas Industry Association, said they had been warning the government about the situation for the last six months. Ghimire said the shortage could get worse.
“Only 13 bullets were dispatched to Nepal on Friday,” he said. On a normal day, 40-50 bullets are shipped from India. Each bullet contains around 17 tonnes of LPG. According to him, the state-owned oil monopoly has been importing 22,377 tonnes of LPG every month against the actual demand of 32,000 tonnes.
However, NOC said that LPG supplies would return to normal within a week. “Due to the worsened shortage, we have requested the Indian authorities to supply 40 bullets daily from Saturday onwards,” said NOC Spokesperson Mukunda Ghimire.
He added that it normally takes three-four days for LPG bullets to reach Kathmandu from Barauni. “The government has been considering raising the existing LPG quota for the bottling companies. A joint taskforce has been formed to study the actual demand to revise the quota,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce and Supplies said it had been closely watching the LPG shortage.
“We are compiling details from stakeholders like NOC, bottling companies and gas dealers to find out the actual demand and supply scenario of cooking gas,” said Hari Narayan Belbase, director at the monitoring unit of the department.
“We also suspect hoarding and black marketing for the shortage, and we have decided to inspect the market from Sunday.”