Import of petroleum products through the Birgunj-Raxaul border point on Tuesday surged four times than the consignment on Monday.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said that 83 fuel tankers entered Nepal through the point, the highest fuel consignment since October 29, 2015.

Since India imposed an unofficial trade embargo on September 22, the country had recorded largest fuel consignment of 131 fuel tankers on October 29, 2015, a day after Nepal signed its first framework agreement on oil trade with China. Sushil Bhattarai, acting deputy managing director of NOC, said 1,310 kilolitres of fuel arrived on Tuesday through the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Raxaul depot. “Tuesday’s consignment indicates that IOC would increase fuel consignment as per our demand,” said Bhattarai.

On Monday, four days after the border restriction was lifted, Nepal imported 368 kilolitres of petroleum products.

According to NOC, 95 tankers reached Raxaul on Tuesday. The corporation has started diverting fuel tankers to Birgunj that were re-routed to different IOC’s depots such as Gonda, Barauni and Baitalpur to bring fuel.

On a regular day before the blockade, Nepal used to import 2,500-3,000 kilolitres of fuel from Raxaul alone. According to Bhattarai, there are 100 tankers at the various IOC depots ready to receive fuel.

Bhattarai also added that IOC provided 30 liquefied petroleum gas bullets on Tuesday.