Krishna Dahal, who used to run a depot of Novel Gas, has quitted LP gas dealership to start a small business of kitchenware. He sold 200 cylinders of Novel Gas in his stock to the bottler's distributor -- Aayushma Traders -- by facing loss of Rs 500 each.
Consumers like Ghimire and dealers like Dahal are suffering as Novel Gas, which has its bottling plant in Janakpur, is not supplying sufficient cylinders to the Kathmandu Valley. Not only Novel Gas, many bottlers, who have plants outside the valley, are not making supply as per the market demand.
Hari Narayan Belbase, director and market monitoring head of Department of Commerce and Supply Management (DoCSM), said more than 60,000 LP gas cylinders of different bottlers, who have plants outside the valley, are lying idle. "These idle cylinders are one of the reasons behind shortage of LP gas in the capital," he said.
Not only Novel Gas, officials say Manoj Gas of Birgunj, Maruti Gas of Biratnagar, Sahara Gas of Hetauda and Griha Laxmi Gas of Pokhara, also do not supply sufficient cylinders to Kathmandu. "These companies increased their presence in the Kathmandu Valley aggressively when they did not have sufficient users in their localities. Now that they have sufficient users in their localities, these bottlers have reduced supply to the capital," a source told Republica.
Belbase said the department has already asked these bottlers to withdraw the cylinders if they cannot make supply as per the market demand. "I have come to know that some companies have already started withdrawal process," he said, adding: "We will request them one more time. If they disobey, we will take serious action."
Shiva Ghimire, president of Nepal LP Gas Industry Association, accepted that thousands of LP gas cylinders are lying idle in Kathmandu Valley. "We have directed bottlers to either resume supply as per the market demand or withdraw the cylinders by returning deposits to consumers," he added.
Customers pay deposit of Rs 2,000 per LPG cylinder. If 60,000 LP gas cylinders are counted, bottlers or their distributors owe customers Rs 120 million.
Mukunda Ghimire, spokesperson of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), also urged bottlers to withdraw idle cylinders. "If bottlers fail to resume normal supply, they will have to withdraw cylinders," he said, adding that NOC might reduce their LP gas supply quota if they show reluctance to do so.
Sudarshan Pradhan, proprietor of Biratnagar-based Maruti Gas, insisted that his company had been supply LP gas to Kathmandu Valley as per the market demand.
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