The move comes after the NOC's call for global tender to supply petroleum products to Nepal last Thursday received majority of bids proposing to supply petroleum products from China.The NOC on Sunday wrote to the MoCS and urged the government to create favorable condition through diplomatic channels to ensure the import of fuel from China with without any hassles.
Talking to Republica, an official at the MoCS requesting anonymity said, "The NOC has written a letter to the MoCS asking us to coordinate with other ministries and the Chinese government via diplomatic channels to import fuel from China."
The official added that the issue is related more to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the letter will be forwarded to the MoFA on Wednesday.
"The MoFA will coordinate with the Chinese government to create favorable environment to import fuel from China with ease," he added.
Though China has remained the only option to import petroleum products to Nepal after the India-imposed blockade and reluctance of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to supply fuel to the NOC, issues like disrupted trade routes with China and low quality of roads that link Nepal with the northern neighbor have remained as the major problems.
The Rasuwagadhi-Kerung and Tatopani customs -- the two major trade routes of Nepal with China -- have not resumed yet after the disruption created by the April 25 earthquake and its aftershocks.
The MoCS official said that the MoFA will consult the issues related to visa, transportation routes and Letter of Credit (LC) with its Chinese counterpart.
An official at the NOC said, "We have sought help from the government to create environment so that fuel can easily and effectively be supplied from China because most of the local firms interested to supply fuel to Nepal have proposed to supply petroleum products from China."
"Government-to-government channel is the only way to import fuel from China," the NOC official added.
After the IOC -- the sole supplier of petroleum products to Nepal since four decades -- failed to supply the NOC with petroleum products for almost two weeks, the latter had announced global tender last week seeking bids to supply petroleum products to Nepal. It had sought proposals from interested firms to supply 200 kiloliters of diesel, 100 kiloliters of petrol, 100 kiloliters of kerosene, 200 kiloliters of aviation fuel and 100 tons of LP Gas on a daily basis for two weeks.
According to the NOC official, 20 firms including those from India and China have shown interest to supply fuel to Nepal. The NOC, however, has not finalized the lowest bidder.
"Evaluation of all the proposals will be completed by Thursday. After screening them, the NOC management will table the appropriate bid at NOC's board," the NOC official added.
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