Kathmandu, May 15:
A meeting of the Council of Ministers Tuesday decided to give a loan of Rs. 2.10 billion to the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to pay the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
The cabinet meeting also urged the NOC not to increase the price of the petroleum products till May 27.
After the meeting, Minister Barsha Man Pun told reporters that the government decided to manage the loan to the NOC from the Citizens’ Investment Fund, Employees Provident Fund and the Finance Ministry.
As per the loan arrangement, the Citizens’ Investment Fund would provide Rs. 1 billion, the Office of Employees Provident Fund Rs. 600 million and the Finance Ministry Rs. 500 million.
The NOC’s due to IOC has been piling up over the years after it failed to readjust the prices of the POL products as per the international market prices. NOC has been selling LP gas and diesel suffering a huge loss.
The government also decided to provide a relief of Rs. 850,000 each to the families of the three victims of the Babarmahal blast of February 17.
Man Bahadur Tamang, Bir Bahadur Tamang and Krishna Bahadur Tamang of Dhading district were killed in the explosion in the capital city.
The government had announced to provide the relief amount some two months back. But when the families of the victims were unable to get the promised relief, they had warned of launching a protest.
The government in its earlier cabinet meeting had, however, provided Rs. 900,000 each to the families of the Janakpur blast of May 1 and announced the deceased as martyrs.
Similarly, the government decided to exempt tax and excise duty while importing a land cruiser vehicle to be provided by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for the purpose of the Nepal Bar Association.
Likewise, the government gave permission to National Planning Commission’s Vice-chairman Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri to take part in the meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to be held in Bangkok, Thailand.
