Following Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) assurance to provide petroleum products at any quantity, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has sent its delegation to the IOC headquarters in Delhi to place the demand.

A team led by Mukunda Ghimire, director of NOC, headed to India this week to discuss the amount of fuel Nepal needs.

The team has also been asked to complete the documentation process to reroute liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bullets stuck at India’s Raxaul, besides increasing the fuel supply quota, according to NOC Managing Director Gopal Bahadur Khadka. “The team will also hold talks with Indian LPG companies to rent additional gas bullets,” he said.

NOC plans to reroute the stick gas bullets through Sunauli-Bhairahawa and Jogbani-Biratnagar border points. Of the LPG 350 bullets with Nepal, 208 have been stuck at Raxaul. And of the stranded bullets, the rerouting process for 65 have been completed so far, but they are yet to cross the border. NOC said it has already received the paperwork for the bullets to travel to Nepal via other Indian states.

The bullets have been stuck at Raxaul ever since India imposed an unofficial trade embargo on Nepal on September 22. The tankers have already completed all the required customs formalities.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Committee on Industry on Thursday cleared the government’s plan to rent additional LPG bullet tankers to increase consignments from India. It has also directed the government to hold necessary study if NOC plans to buy new bullets.

The committee also asked the Supply Ministry to take a decision on its own to provide detention and transport charges demanded by LPG importers. Gas bottlers have been demanding the government provide financial support to pay detention charges.

Nepal needs 22,000 tonnes of LPG per month. However, with the month-long shortage, it is unlikely to ease the supply situation even if the supply is increased multi fold.