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Govt Plan to Set Up Fuel Storage Facilities in Limbo

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Govt Plan to Set Up Fuel Storage Facilities in Limbo
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July 5: The government’s proposed plan to increase the storage capacity of petroleum products has been limited to paper works. As per the proposal, the government is preparing to create storage facilities of fuel for up to three months. However, the plan is in limbo as the government has not been able to acquire the land required for the purpose.

Currently, Nepal has the capacity to store fuel only for 17 days. Although the government had made a commitment to set up facilities to store fuel for at least 90 days during the budget announcement of last fiscal year, no concrete steps has been taken to this end.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC)’s Spokesperson Sitaram Pokharel said that this plan has hit a snag as the process to acquire lands in all seven provinces for the storage facilities has not yet gained any pace.

“We had issued a tender notice for land required in all seven provinces for the storage facilities,” said Pokharel, “But we couldn’t find land suitable for the purpose. This has also delayed the re-tender process.”

Officials at the NOC informed that the state-run oil corporation has already purchased 50 bighas of land in Chitwan, 20 bighas in Jhapa and 17 bighas in Sarlahi but it is yet to buy land in other places. NOC officials further said that they will soon initiate the process to buy lands in other places.

Keeping in view the growing demand for petroleum products of late, the government had decided to create storage facilities for 424,000 kiloliters of fuel. Although the government has agreed in principle to set up such facilities, the process has been delayed due to various reasons.

NOC officials have identified the need for pipeline transfer of petroleum products to ease the supply chain, but, for this, it is essential to set up the storage facilities. At present, the consumers in Nepal have been facing crisis even if the supply of fuel is obstructed for a few days.  

NOC officials informed that they have already spent Rs 5 billion for purchasing land. An additional Rs 10 billion is required for construction of depots, according to sources. 

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