Kathmandu, March 27

Liquefied petroleum gas bottlers have expressed their serious concern over the unwillingness of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to address issues raised by bottlers repeatedly.

Speaking at a discussion programme in the Capital today, LPG bottlers said that though government had assured bottlers to address their concerns by March, NOC lately is seen to be inactive in addressing the concerns of LPG bottlers including the revision in commission for bottlers and distributors.

Earlier, LPG bottlers had announced a series of programmes to protest the ‘government’s inability’ to resolve problems facing the LPG industry, including failure to substitute Indian LPG bullets with Nepali ones to transport cooking gas from India to Nepal and NOC’s unwillingness to revise the commission on LPG. Later, bottlers had withdrawn their protest activities after NOC decided to form a committee to study the problems in the LPG industry and address them within March.

“Though NOC had earlier assured us of conducting a study and addressing our concerns, the corporation does not seem serious on this front lately,” said Gokul Bhandari, president of Nepal LP Gas Industry Association, adding that the government’s reluctance to address LPG bottlers’ concerns will compel bottlers to resort to protest programmes once again.

As mentioned above, LPG bottlers have been basically raising two concerns — increase in the commission on LPG cylinders and protection of investment that bottlers have made in purchasing LPG bullets.

Under the government’s plan to substitute Indian gas-ferrying bullets, domestic bottlers had given manufacturing order for dozens of gas bullets in India. However, they have not been able to ferry gas using their own gas bullets due to the lack of ‘non-explosive’ certificate from Indian authorities, which is must for collecting gas from refineries of Indian Oil Corporation. Bottlers have been criticising the failure of the government to facilitate this entire process. As a result, bottlers have been saying that their investment worth billions of rupees is currently at risk.

Similarly, LPG bottlers have also sought increment in the commission on LPG cylinders for both bottlers and distributors citing that such commission has not been revised since long.