” “Home ” global ” China to Supply 1000 Metric Tonnes Litres of Petrol to

With the decision to import petroleum products from China, about four-decade long monopoly of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) as the fuel supplier to Nepal will be ended formally.

“China has agreed to send us 1,000 metric tons, or 1.3 million liters of petrol, as a grant”, said Sushil Bhattarai, acting deputy managing director at the state-run Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).

He said the government has chose to give a no-objection letter to private firms to import oil from China. Another high-level team from Nepal consisting officials from various ministries will soon leave for Beijing to sign a deal in this regard. The first shipment will be dispatched to Kathmandu via the reopened Rasuwagadhi-Kerung trading point between Nepal and Tibet.

The trade hub has been blocked for weeks by protesters from the Madhesi ethnic minority based in Nepal’s southern plains, who have close cultural, linguistic and family ties to Indians living across the border.

The blockade has left scores of trucks carrying vital supplies stranded, and forced Nepal authorities to ration fuel in the country, which is still reeling from the devastating April quake.

The fuel from China would arrive through a recently repaired border crossing in the Himalayas, Nepal officials said. Nepal and China have reopened two border check points Tatopani and Kerung recently. Madhesi protesters, including men and women, held flags, raised slogans against the newly-appointed Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Oli and demanded justice and equal rights from the government.