“The problem with Koshi is that it has flouted laws at every steps of its operation. That is not all, we have reckoned that licensing the company in the absence of appropriate law and regulatory authority was a mistake in itself,” Commerce and Supplies Minister Rajendra Mahato told myrepublica.com.
Based on no objection letter from the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the Department of Industry (DoI) had issued license to the company to import crude oil and produce diesel, kerosene and mineral turpentine oil (MTO) on May 21, 2009.
The company, based in Hattimuda -9 in Morang, had announced that it had started distributing the finished diesel to industries from the very next day, May 22.
The investigation had showed that the company never imported crude. Instead, it claimed of producing diesel and kerosene using furnished oil -- an unviable finished product -- as a raw material. “It has been deceiving the concerned authorities and consumers alike,” said Mahato. He even tagged Koshi Petrochemicals as a clear case of disregarding the operating license, misleading the environmental authority and evading revenue through unauthorized trading, and said that the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) has already instructed the Ministry of Industry (MoI), the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to take appropriate action.
He hinted that the action in its case should go to the extent of annulling the operating license. “If the other ministries did not take action, the MoCS will intervene and ban the company from importing crude and furnace oil (which is an open product) as well,” said Mahato.
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