Valley to suffer fuel woes again

SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, JUN 29 - Long queues of motorists formed outside gasoline stations in the capital on Monday as supplies have run short of demand.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said the shortage was caused by India Oil Corporation's (IOC) move to cut deliveries by 50-60 percent as NOC had fallen behind in its payments.
NOC's import bills have crossed Rs. 800 million, said NOC spokesperson Mukunda Dhungel. IOC had reduced fuel shipments from June 16. 

As a result, NOC's diesel and petrol stocks across the country have come down to 35,000 kl from its normal amount of 42,000 kl, Dhungel said.
IOC has been exporting only 1,000 kl of petroleum products per day compared to the daily requirement of 2,300 kl.

Saroj Pandey, president of the Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association, said that the valley's petrol pumps had not been replenished for two days. "Petrol pumps did not receive fuel on Saturday and Sunday; as a result, pressure mounted on Monday," he added.
Bhuwaneshwor Rajbhandari, chief of the NOC's Thankot depot, said that demand had increased as the supply went down. He added that the shortage occurred due to road disturbances on Saturday and India's
public holiday on Sunday. India does not deliver petroleum products on public holidays.

"Similarly, two consecutive public holidays have resulted in a shortage in the Kathmandu Valley," he said. 
According to him, petrol stocks in the valley have come down to 1,300 kl from the  usual 1,800 kl, diesel down to 3,200 kl from 8,400 kl and kerosene down to 3,600 kl from 4,200 kl. The total capacity of the Thankot depot is 14,400 kl.

NOC said that that it had started distributing the petroleum products in storage to avert a shortage.
Dhungel said that NOC had asked the government for Rs. 1 billion as it had ruled out increasing fuel prices.
The government has asked NOC to try to borrow money from banks, but NOC is not in a position to take loans as it already owes Rs 10.74 billion.

"NOC has incurred losses amounting to Rs. 1.30 billion on LPG and diesel as of May
31," Dhungel said. He added that NOC was losing Rs. 177 per cylinder of LPG.

Buddhist Circuit planned

 SANGAM PRASAIN
JUNE 26, JUN 27 - Keeping in mind the development of Nepal’s major Buddhist destinations and promoting it as a key product in the upcoming Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY-2011), the Himalaya Expedition (Himex) is soon launching a Buddhist pilgrimage tour package entitled “Buddhist Circuit”.
Two 42-seater deluxe shuttles buses are coming for this purpose. The organiser said it would start its trial in November.
The tour package is a ten-day affair that will cost around US$ 300 per person.  The tour package will be officially launched in January will manage the pilgrimages to different places in Nepal and India that are associated with the life and teachings of Lord Buddha.
Himex president Bikrum Pandey said that Buddhism holds a 40 percent market share of the total tourist movement in Asia, and Nepal being a major destination could reap huge benefit if it was promoted and marketed. According to him, the planned tour will begin from Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, and will go through Kapilvastu, Shravasti, Kushin-agar, Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Vaishali, Rajgius, Nalanda and Patna before returning to Lumbini.
“In the preliminary stages, we will operate just two shuttle buses. As and when the tour gets momentum, we will add more to the fleet,” Pandey said.
Pandey said India had been operating such tours since long focusing on the India side while Nepal had failed to capitalise on it due to lack of innovations as Nepali tours operators focus only on adventurous tourism. As a result, over 90 percent tour operators for Buddhist pilgrims are from India.  
More importantly, the presence of just one international airport has deprived Nepal of attracting more Buddhist pilgrims to country, the organiser said. At present, there are four gateways to Buddhist tours, and surprisingly all of them are through India. The package, according to Pandey will help lure more domestic and international tourists in the Nepal Tourism Year 2011.
The organiser said that the estimated business for Buddhist Circuits was about 300,000 tourists. Of this, Nepal gets day journey from Indian itinerary for Lumbini sector and the benefit was very little.
Nepal is becoming a major spiritual tourism destination for East Asian travelers attracted by Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and other religious spots. The World Bank South Asia Economic Update 2010 reveals that travelers from East Asia made up 26.5 percent of the total tourist arrivals in Nepal.
Tourist arrivals from China, South Korea and Thailand for Buddhist pilgrim have been increasing in the past few years.
The number of Chinese arrivals in Nepal has increased by 185.97 percent in the last three years. Around 19,000 Chinese tourists visited Nepal in 2009. In the three years, tourist arrivals from South Korea, Singapore, Thailand soared by 68.40 percent, 164.26 percent, 83.48 percent respectively.