Nepal to allow private sectors to enter petroleum dealings

Ending Nepal Oil Corporation's ( NOC) monopoly over petroleum dealings, the government has passed a bill that will now allow private sectors to enter the hitherto one- manned show of petroleum business, a leading newspaper, The Himalayan Times daily, reported on Sunday.

According to the daily, the cabinet meeting on Friday made the decision to present a draft of the "Petroleum Products Dealings Act-2063 (2006)" before the House of Representatives (HoR) for approval.

If passed by the HoR, the act will allow private companies to import and distribute petro products inside Nepal.

The act will also introduce price determination based on demand and supply in the international market and internal competition ending the long standing government control over the price determination.

This marks the first act in the country for the direction of petroleum products dealings, according to the daily.

"There have been no set of laws guiding petroleum dealings till now," Minister for Industry Commerce and Supply Hridayesh Tripathi told the daily.

"The act will serve to regulate the import, internal supply process, price determination and quality of the imports in addition to giving it a definitive legal format," he said.

Previously, the government announced its plans to give subsidies to private companies willing to deal in petroleum.

The ministry had drafted the act accordingly for the free entry to private sector over the import, storage and distribution of petroleum products.

Presently, the NOC has monopoly over the import of petroleum products while the private dealers involved in the sales and distribution are also under the corporation's control.

Until now, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) was the sole supplier of petro products to Nepal, the new act will change that, allowing companies to import from India or any third country.

Source: Xinhua