Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has started importing aviation fuel from Barauni instead of Raxaul after the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) showed concern about the security situation.
Spokesperson of NOC Binit Mani Upadhyay said that import of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) from Barauni depot has started after the IOC repeatedly pressured the Corporation to stop import of aviation fuel from Raxaul depot of India.
Earlier, the Corporation used to import all petroleum products, including diesel, petrol and aviation fuel from Raxaul. After the construction of the Nepal-India Petroleum Pipeline, diesel import started from the pipeline.
After that, the IOC had repeatedly been pressured to stop the import of petrol from Raxaul, saying that it should also import petrol from Barauni. Upadhyay said that the import of petrol has already started from Barauni following India’s request.
“We have started importing ATF from Barauni partially for the past two days. Around 20-25 tankers are being loaded in Barauni daily. Imports from Raxaul will be completely stopped once the IOC starts providing adequate ATF from the Barauni depot,” he said.
“Imports have started from Barauni after India showed concern about security. The import of aviation fuel from the Raxaul depot will completely stop within a week. The transportation cost of fuel from Barauni is higher than from Raxaul,” he said.
He said that the cost of fuel will increase for supplying to Kathmandu Valley, Gandaki, Province 1, Madhes Pradesh and other areas.
In this regard, the transportation cost of aviation fuel will increase and additional financial burden will fall on the Corporation, said Upadhyay.
He said that the transportation cost of ATF would be doubled while importing from Barauni than from Raxaul. He said that the transportation fare will be increased to Rs. 6 per litre importing fuel from Barauni compared to existing Rs. 3.27 per litre importing from Raxaul.
In particular, India has pointed out the risk in fuel transportation as the Raxaul area is busy and the settlements in the area are made up of huts.
Similarly, problems were also shown in the drainage of water in the Raxaul area and the storage capacity of the area was small, said the NOC.
According to the Corporation, around 12,000 kilolitres of aviation fuel is being imported from IOC every month.
Source : TRN,
