Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) will be distributing petrol to private automobiles in the Kathmandu Valley for three days from Thursday.

As per the government decision issued on Monday, motorcycles will be provided 5 litres of petrol each and four-wheelers will get 10 litres each.

Director of the state-owned oil monopoly Mukunda Ghimire said that they had decided to distribute fuel to private vehicles as it held adequate stocks. According to NOC, gasoline will be distributed according to the registration number series.

Vehicles bearing registration number series Ba 1 Pa to Ba 30 Pa will get fuel on Thursday, Ba 31 Pa to Ba 50 Pa on Friday and Ba 50 Pa and up on Saturday.

Ghimire said they would be distributing 900 kilolitres of petrol during the three days. “Each day, 50 gasoline stations in the valley will be assigned to sell fuel,” he said. There are more than 140 petrol pumps in the valley.  

This is the second time in one and a half months that NOC will be distributing petrol for private vehicles. The last time, the corporation had issued petrol to motorists for just one day on October 13. About one-third of those in the fuel queue got gasoline while the rest had to return empty-handed after waiting for hours.

“Considering the hardships that people had to suffer the last time, we have decided to distribute fuel on the basis of the registration lots of the vehicles,” said Ghimire.

He added that the fuel that NOC would be distributing had been imported from India.

“In order to make the distribution smooth, vehicles owned by the government and public enterprises will not be served during these three days.”

According to NOC, 12 tankers bringing oil from China have reached its Thankot depot and are being unloaded. These tankers that reached Kyirong on Saturday and Sunday have brought an estimated 108 kilolitres of petrol from the northern neighbour.

“We have managed separate chambers to store the fuel imported from China,” said Ghimire, adding that they would distribute the fuel only after testing the quality and other parameters.

The petrol gifted by China is of Euro IV standard while that imported from India is of Euro III standard.

Meanwhile, 26 petroleum tankers left for Rasuwagadhi on Sunday and Monday to bring the rest of the 1,333 kilolitres of petrol gifted by China. Basu Pradhan, president of the Bagmati Petrol Transport Entrepreneurs’ Association, said they sent four tankers on Sunday and 26 tankers on Monday.