A day after Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) allowed LPG bottlers to acquire gas bullet trucks, the Supply Ministry on Wednesday took a decision to halt the plan unless the new by-laws are formulated and implemented.

Issuing a press statement, the ministry said that its attention has been drawn over the news report of NOC allowing bottlers to purchase 600 bullets.

“The ministry is preparing to draft two separate by-laws on petroleum and LPG bullet tankers. Hence, unless these laws are formulated and implemented, we have directed NOC to halt the plan,” said the ministry’s statement.   

The state-owned oil supplier on Tuesday allowed LPG bottlers to acquire the bullets learning the lesson from the India’s trade embargo last year. During the embargo, Indian gas bullets had refused to transport LPG to Nepal citing security reasons.

Currently, neither NOC nor private sector companies possess LPG bullets, leaving Nepal at the mercy of Indian transporters for the shipment of cooking gas.

According to NOC, more than 523 Indian bullets are currently used to import LPG. Gas bottlers have been paying around Rs3.5 billion annually to the Indian transporters for the service. There are 53 LPG bottlers operating in the country.