Sept 20 first tweet. The Supplies Ministry has planned to sell 51 ropanis of land at Teku owned by National Trading Limited (NTL) and use the money to pay off its employees.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is the potential buyer of the prime location land.

The ministry expects to receive Rs2.5 billion from the sale of the property while NTL’s total liability amounts to Rs1.56 billion.

The ministry’s move follows the government’s plan to bid farewell to NTL employees under a voluntary retirement scheme.

The government in this year’s budget statement had also said that NTL would be merged with Nepal Food Corporation, Agriculture Inputs Company and Timber Corporation of Nepal to form National Supply Company.

Supply Minister Deepak Bohara said the ministry had proposed to sell the land to raise money for the severance package. “We will be sending the proposal to the Finance Ministry before seeking the Cabinet’s approval,” he added.

The government has planned to offer a voluntary retirement scheme to 265 of the 290 employees at NTL to reduce its financial burden.

As of the fiscal year 2013-14, NTL had run up losses amounting to Rs151 million. The company’s average annual revenue stands at Rs50 million while its administrative costs amount to around Rs100 million, according to the ministry.

NTL’s financial position started weakening after the Maoist-led government in 2008 closed the duty-free shop it was operating at Tribhuvan International Airport. The company’s revenues have dropped as it has been doing little business, and most of its little income comes from rentals and operating gasoline

stations. NOC Spokesperson Sitaram Pokharel said NOC planned to use the land for diversifying their business portfolio. The state-owned oil monopoly has been mulling to restart its bitumen business in order to provide high quality products amid growing complaints about the poor quality of the asphalt being supplied by contractors.

The oil company has amassed a large amount of funds after clearing its outstanding dues totalling Rs36 billion in the last fiscal year. Pokharel said the enterprise had targeted using the money to diversify investments besides building infrastructure.

NOC has been considering raising its capital fund which currently stands at Rs96.7 million to strengthen its financial position. NTL holds a 0.76 percent stake in NOC.