Birgunj, March 11

Factories along the Birgunj-Pathlaiya corridor are still reeling under acute shortage of fuel even though a month has elapsed since fuel import from India normalised.

Industrialists and entrepreneurs complained that they were struggling to get back to their feet after their factories were hit hard by the months-long border blockade and the Tarai agitation.

Senior vice-chairman of the Birgunj chapter of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Om Prakash Sharma, said Nepal Oil Corporation had not supplied them adequate fuel though its import had normalised after the blockade was lifted.

“The corridor has more than 2,000 factories. They, however, have not been able to increase their production due to fuel scarcity,” said Sharma. The industries along the corridor require 100,000 litres of diesel on an average every day.

Chairman of the Birgunj chapter of FNCCI, Pradip Kediya, bemoaned that their repeated requests to the local administration, NOC and the Prime Minister had gone unheeded.

Kyal Group’s executive director Rajesh Kyal said fuel crisis had adversely affected their production and sales. “The government has done nothing to relieve the industries,” said Kyal.

Entrepreneurs complained that discriminatory behaviour from Nepal Electricity Authority had caused them a lot of troubles. “Nepal Electricity Authority has officially imposed 15 hours of load-shedding on the corridor a day.

But there is more than 17 hours of load-shedding every day,” vice-chairman of Birgunj chapter of FNCCI Subodh Gupta.

Gupta accused the NEA of discriminating against them by supplying less electricity than to other industrial corridors.