"I will work to help streamline the petroleum industry"

KATHMANDU, APRIL 14: President of Nepal Petroleum Dealers' Association of Nepal (NPDAN, Lilendra Prasad  Pradhan, has said that he will fully mobilize the forum of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) to help streamline the petroleum industry of the country.

Talking to corporateangle.com after being elected as an executive member of the umbrella organisation of the private sector under the category of commodity yesterday, he made such a remark. 

 

"Though the decision of adopting an auto fuel pricing system was made way back in 2014, the government is yet to implement it. As such, I will make utmost efforts to resolve this serious issue during my official term at the FNCCI. 

  

According to him, the said system helps in fixing the prices of petroleum products like petrol and diesel in line with international prices in a timely fashion.

"So, its adoption could well make the entire fuel distribution smart and competitive, thus benefitting all the related stakeholders like Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), petroleum dealers, and general consumers."  

Pradhan also plans to lobby for charging an additional amount for the liquified petroleum gas (LPG) sold especially for commercial users. "This is so because the very amount can be used to subsidise the cooking gas consumed by households ( who comprise the bulk of the domestic cooking gas market) "       

 

His yet another initiative as a newly elected member of the FNCCI will be to advocate for regulating the license-distributing process regarding the gasoline stations.   "Licenses to new petrol pumps have long been distributed in an arbitrary manner.  The government should set parameters to judge whether the related pumps have financial potentials to reach at least a break-even point in a certain period before licensing them," he opines adding,"   This is simply crucial only to ensure the security of private investment in the petroleum industry." 

 

According to the NPDAN, it costs from Rs 200 to  Rs 250 million to commence a new petrol pump in the Kathmandu Valley, and doing so outside the valley calls for Rs 50 to 70 million.  

It is estimated there are 1,600 petrol pumps across the country and the investment made by them is to the tune of Rs 30 billion.