Kathmandu, January 10

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav, has said that the government will not tolerate any form of anomalies in the petroleum sector.

Citing that all including Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) officials, fuel suppliers, transporters and ministry officials have been involved in irregular practices in the past, Minister Yadav said that he will break such trend during his tenure at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).

Addressing the 49th anniversary of NOC today, Yadav said, “I have witnessed many lapses that have been taking place in NOC and everyone is taking benefit from it. Though such loopholes are gradually declining, I am committed to end all anomalies at NOC soon.”

This accusation from Yadav comes at a time when fuel transporters time and again have been trying to halt supply of petroleum products and different incidents of oil theft have been coming to light.

Furthermore, Yadav directed transporters and petroleum suppliers not to promote syndicate in the petroleum industry.

“Among others, various issues related to NOC and sugar industry have become a headache for MoICS. I expect all stakeholders to cooperate in ending anomalies in the supply sector,” said Yadav.

Similarly, the minister also expressed his dissatisfaction over the working procedures of NOC. “I have been asking NOC to do the needful to amend its guideline related to the sales of petroleum products since nine months. However, the corporation has not made any progress on this front so far,” he stated.

On the occasion, Surendra Poudel, the newly appointed managing director of NOC, said that he will adopt ‘zero tolerance’ policy against any forms of anomalies in the petroleum sector and NOC.

“Among other enterprises, NOC has comparatively bigger responsibility not only because the corporation is one of the largest contributors to government’s revenue, but it also has direct relation with the consumers,” said Poudel.

As per NOC’s statistics, the government had collected revenue worth more than Rs 55 billion from the petroleum sector in the last fiscal year.

Meanwhile, Poudel also expressed his plan to transform NOC, maintain accountability and ensure uninterrupted supply of petroleum products in the future.

On the occasion, private petroleum dealers and transporters criticised NOC for not consulting with the private sector while formulating new laws and policies.