As fuel crisis deepens, the government is considering air-lifting petroleum products targeting the upcoming Dashain festival.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), tasked to prepare alternative plans for fuel import following Indian blockade, will submit the proposal to Commerce Ministry on Thursday. In the proposal, the state-owned enterprise oil monopoly has drawn short- and long-term plans for fuel import.

The NOC has planned to import fuel either from Bangladesh or Malaysia as short term solution.

In the long term plan, the NOC has recommended for importing fuel from China and sending a technical team there for a feasibility study. The corporation has also suggested the government of constructing a petroleum storage plant in the Nepal-China bordering area. “The NOC meeting on Wednesday has considered air-lifting fuel as an option for now. However, we are yet to reach to any conclusion,” said an NOC source.

In the proposal to be submitted to the ministry, the NOC has sought government’s permission to import petroleum products without bidding process.

The Commerce Ministry had written to the NOC last week to work on possibility of importing petroleum products through alternative means after the IOC unilaterally started restriction on fuel supply to Nepal. According to Shiva Prasad Tripathi, under secretary at the ministry, they have asked the NOC for a detailed feasibility report, including costs for petroleum products and transportation.

With IOC—the sole supplier of petroleum products to Nepal for over 40 years—denying adequate fuel supply after Indian government’s unofficial blockade, the government has been forced to look for alternatives. Miffed at IOC’s non-cooperation, the NOC has sought compensation from the Indian supplier for heavy financial losses and brand image. In a strongly-worded letter, the NOC had stated “the 40-year bond between the two companies had arrived at a crossroads.”

Around 100 fuel tankers enter Nepal in past 24hrs

Around 100 petroleum tankers, including 12 cooking gas bullets, have entered Nepal in the past 24 hours. Customs offices in Biratnagar, Kakarbhitta and Dhangadhi said 91 oil tankers and 12 gas bullets entered the country on Wednesday. Fifty-three oil tankers and 12 gas

bullets entered Nepal through Biratnagar customs point, while 35 oil tankers entered through Kakarbhitta and three through Dhangadhi.