Bottlers get NOC nod to acquire gas bullets

Kathmandu March 2- The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has given a go-ahead to the private gas bottling companies to  acquire bullets for transporting cooking gas which could save over Rs3 billion in annual  transportation cost.

A total 53 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) bottling plants operate in the country. At present, neither the NOC nor private companies possesses LPG bullet, leaving Nepal at mercy of Indian  transporters for shipment of cooking gas.

According to the NOC, 523 bullets belonging to seven Indian shipping companies are being used to transport LPG from Indian Oil Corporation’s depots in Barauni, Haldiya and Mathura to Nepal.These shipping companies have been taking home more than Rs3 billion in freight charges annually. According to LPG bottlers, the Indian bullet operators charge extra if it takes more than 72 hours to ship fuel from India to the gas bottling plants in Nepal.