20 August, Kathmandu. Badan Bhandari, Member of Parliament of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party, has questioned the scientific basis of the increase in the cost of transporting LP gas for cooking.
Speaking at an interaction program on 'Effects and Challenges on the Supply and Value Chain after the Floods' organized by the Nepal Economic Journalists Society (SEJAN) in the capital, MP Bhandari accused Nepal Oil Corporation of feeding businessmen under the pretext of disaster.
One bullet gas carries about 1250 cylinders. Because of the condition of the road, even though three small vehicles have to carry the same quantity, how come there is such a big difference in the cost of transportation? What is the scientific basis for increasing 105 rupees 38 paisa?, asked MP Bhandari.
According to him, the corporation had decided to keep the price of petroleum products unchanged on August 16 last year, showing that there was a problem in the supply chain due to the Bhotekoshi flood and Krishnabhir landslide.
But two days after that, on the occasion of the general meeting, it was decided to add 105 rupees 38 paisa per cylinder to the businessmen, he objected.
When the price of 105 rupees per cylinder is increased while there are 50 lakh cylinders in stock, it seems that crores of rupees have been manipulated. At such a time, the regulatory body can't just sit and watch," he said.
MP Bhandari says that even though the corporation put forward the argument that it is difficult to bring large bullets due to the blocking of the Prithvi Highway and the cost has increased due to the use of small vehicles, the figure of the increase is not reasonable.
Stating that there are around 1.75 million gas cylinders in the country, he suspected that the businessmen may have hidden gas or kept stock due to the lack of it in the market.
