Nepal not to increase petro product prices soon: minister

Nepali Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Rajendra Mahato said Thursday there will be no immediate increase in the price of petroleum products.

Amidst rising shortage of petroleum products in the capital of Kathmandu Valley due to supply cut by as much as 60 percent by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Mahato informed that the government was not planning on increasing petrol prices.

Talking to reporters, Mahato said that he had already discussed alternative solutions to the shortage with all the parties in the Interim Legislature-Parliament in light of the IOC's supply cut.

He further informed that the representatives of all the parties had agreed that instead of increasing the prices of petro products, an alternative solution should be found.

Kathmandu Valley once again experienced a shortage of petro products on Thursday.

NOC has stopped distributing petrol to private pumps since Tuesday, while it has been supplying only 40 percent of diesel from its Thankot depot.

Most private petrol pumps went dry on Wednesday and only a few are distributing diesel, said Dhruva Shrestha, secretary of Nepal Petroleum Dealers' Association.

He informed that all private pumps will run dry by Thursday, if NOC continues to curtail supply.

NOC spokesperson Ichha Bikram Thapa said "NOC has not been able to pay its dues to its sole supplier Indian Oil Corporation which stands at about 5.96 billion Nepali rupees (some 85 million U.S. dollars)."

"Besides, our stock is low too. That is why the corporation has tightened supply," he said, adding that the current stock will meet the demand for only two days.

Source: Xinhua