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.

Nano to arrive here in July-end

SANGAM PRASAIN

KATHMANDU, JUN 24 -

Come July and the much-awaited cheapest car on the planet will be here in Kathmandu.
Sipradi Trading Pvt. Ltd, an authorised distributor for Tata Motors in Nepal, on Thursday said five Nano cars will be arriving in Nepal for a “test-drive” by July end.

“We have opened the Letter of Credit (L/C) for five Nanos,” Shambhu Prasad Dahal, chief executive officer of Sipradi Trading, told the Post. The company had initially planned to bring in the car in mid-March. Sipradi will conduct extensive trials of the car across the country as Tata Motors sells all vehicles only after testing them locally.

“We want to see how the car is suited for Nepali road conditions. All aspects need to be studied before launching the Nano commercially,” Sundaram Ragunathan, regional head, South and West Asia, Passenger Car Business Unit of Tata Motors, said.

However, those who have been dreaming of owning the cheapest car will have to wait untill January 2011 to have one. Raghunathan said Nano will be commercially launched in Nepal in 2011, the country being the first international market for the car.

According to Dahal, Sipradi will start with 10-15 cars in the beginning and increase the sales volume as per the response they will get.

Sipradi has so far received inquires on Nano from over 1,000 customers. “We normally get three-four enquiries daily,” Dahal said.

The 624 cc Nano, launched in January 2008 in India, had been priced there at IRs 100,000 making it the cheapest car in the world. However, Tata Motors has now increased the price by IRs 15,000. Nano’s price is one of the reasons why car lovers in Nepal are eagerly waiting for it.

However, Nepalis will have to pay around Rs 700,000 for a Nano. “We are planning to sell it at Rs 650,000; however, the price could near the 700,000 mark due to high customs duty here,” Dahal added.

HAN calls for easing VAT level

SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, JUN 23 - The Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government to reduce the value added tax (VAT) on hotel sector to 10 percent from the existing 13 percent.
HAN will be content with withdrawal of 3 percent VAT in the matter of import of goods such as agriculture products where VAT is not imposed.
Talking about the new budget, HAN also asked the government to look into the main concerns of the hospitality industry by giving high priority to infrastructure development and tax breaks which are vital for boosting the growth of hotel sector in the coming fiscal year budget 2010-11.
With Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY-2011) in sight, adequate infrastructure such as accommodation has become an immediate necessity in view of the possible surge in tourist arrivals. The government aims to attract a million tourists during NTY-2011.
A number of hotels have been been lying closed due to the decade-long conflict and the ongoing political instability is also hurting the industry.
“Private sector investment in hotel sector is Rs 150 billion and the sector is providing direct employment opportunities to a million people and indirectly to 3 million people,” said Madhav Om Shrestha, Executive Director of HAN.
HAN has also suggested the government operate Nepal Airlines Corporation in Public Private Partnership  model, converting it into a company. The government should immediately create an environment to make the national flag carrier competitive with other international airlines.
The government should enlarge the scope of Tribhuvan International Airport and rope in the private sector for the construction of Pokhara and Bhairahawa airports as regional airports under the Built, Owned, Operated and Transferred (BOOT) model. 
Considering that NTY-2011 is a national campaign, HAN has also
suggested the government provide free visa system for two years in
order to promote Nepal at the international level.
“In order to attract both domestic and international visitor beautification projects should be initiated in the periphery of Narayanhiti Museum and replaced the existing walls with wire-fence so that it can give a proper glimpse of museum from outside also,” Shrestha said.