Birgunj (Parsa) — Consumption of petroleum products has declined as rising fuel prices continue to impact the construction sector. According to the Madhesh Provincial Office of the Nepal Oil Corporation, daily sales of petroleum products have decreased in recent times.
Previously, the office used to sell an average of 5,000 kiloliters of diesel and 2,000 kiloliters of petrol daily. However, fuel sales have recently dropped.
Chief of the Madhesh Provincial Office, Ashok Sah, said that daily sales of petrol and diesel have declined in recent months. “Currently, an average of 3,500 kiloliters of diesel and around 1,000 to 1,500 kiloliters of petrol are being sold daily,” he said. “The high prices of petrol and diesel may naturally have reduced sales.”
The Federation of Nepal Construction Entrepreneurs has claimed that heavy increases in petroleum prices have affected infrastructure construction work, leading to reduced fuel consumption.
Former president of the federation, Rabi Singh, said construction companies are now using fuel only for essential work due to high fuel prices.
“Construction entrepreneurs who previously consumed 20,000 liters of fuel monthly are now consuming far less,” he said. “The excessive rise in fuel prices has made construction work difficult.” He added that expensive fuel is still being used in bridge and other structural construction projects.
According to him, bitumen, which previously cost Rs. 80 per kilogram, has now risen to over Rs. 155 per kilogram.
According to the Madhesh Provincial Office of the Nepal Oil Corporation, the Amlekhgunj depot has storage capacity for 17,748 kiloliters of petrol and 25,843 kiloliters of diesel.
The existing storage can supply petrol for seven days and diesel for four days. The office imports 11,000 kiloliters of petrol and 24,000 kiloliters of diesel per shipment through pipelines from the Indian Oil Corporation.
Deputy Manager Jawahar Kumar Yadav clarified that there are currently no difficulties in importing petroleum products from India.
“Petroleum products are being imported smoothly from India,” he said. “Although fuel prices have increased, there has been no problem with imports.”
According to the Birgunj Customs Office, petroleum products worth Rs. 148.16 billion were imported during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
During the same period last fiscal year, petroleum imports were worth Rs. 140.10 billion.
In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, diesel worth Rs. 78.79 billion and petrol worth Rs. 31.08 billion were imported. — RSS
