Money
Govt likely to resume sales of full gas cylinders
The government is likely to resume the supply of fully filled cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Monday, the Ministry of Supply said.The government is likely to resume the supply of fully filled cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Monday, the Ministry of Supply said.
Dealers have been selling half-filled cylinders weighing 7.1 kg since October 29, 2015 after Indian Oil Corporation cut fuel deliveries to Nepal following a trade embargo by India.
LPG shipments have swelled to near pre-embargo levels, and the government has planned to end the ration system by allowing gas plants to issue full cylinders.
Deepak Subedi, joint secretary at the Supply Ministry, said the ministry would likely decide to allow sales of 14.2 kg cylinders from Monday. “The meeting
had been scheduled for Sunday, but it has been postponed till Monday because Supply Minister Ganesh Man Pun can’t spare the time,” he said.
“In the last two weeks, the LPG supply has increased to 42 bullets daily from 35 bullets previously,” he said. One bullet contains enough LPG to fill 1,250 cylinders.
Since the Indian embargo which began on September 22, Nepal had been receiving only 10-15 gas bullets daily compared to 55 bullets before. The resulting shortage had prompted the government to order gas plants to issue half-filled cylinders so that a large number of people would get at least some cooking gas.
According to the Supply Ministry, Nepal imported 20,000 tonnes of cooking gas during the period mid-January to mid-February. The country’s monthly requirement amounts to 29,000 tonnes.
Gas plants had been divided over whether to sell fully filled cylinders of half-filled cylinders. Tarai-based bottlers were for full cylinders while factories based in the Kathmandu Valley wanted to continue selling half-filled cylinders because of the higher demand.
Among the 53 LPG bottlers in the country, 29 sell their products in the valley. There are an estimated 6.5 million gas cylinders in circulation.
Shiva Ghimire, president of the LP Gas Industry Association,
said most LPG bottlers favoured scrapping the half-filled cylinder system. According to him, they have been facing high delivery and refilling costs due to the half-filled cylinders.
“As the half-filled cylinder system has caused financial loss, many of us are in favour of implementing the full cylinder system,” he said.
Meanwhile, gas bottlers have also been criticised for cheating their customers by giving short measure. Subedi said the ministry had been inundated with complaints from customers of being cheated when buying half-filled cylinders.
“As per the consumers, they have been given short measure when buying 7.1 kg cylinders,” he said.