Nepal imports all of its petrol from India. The GoN (Government of Nepal) has only recently allowed privatisation of the petroleum industry so it is still largely a publicly run system. However, the NOC (Nepal Oil Corporation), subsidises petrol here - I'm not sure by how much because the tank price is still 105nrs or AUD$1.24 - which has seen them fall into huge debts with their Indian providers as they can't pay the bills. So this has meant that imports have dropped and petrol stations are literally drying up. Those that are still open and have access to some of the Government reserves, have queues of up to 5 hours long and volume limits - 5L per motorbike and about 10L per car. The transport system is in dissarray. Only half of the buses are running meaning people can;t get to work, the rubbish collection service has stopped causing rubbish to pile up, movement of stock has slowed causing supermarkets to run our of certain products, and I am unable to put petrol in my new bike and cruise the streets of KTM! It is horrendous! Luckily I have connections and sourced myself some black market petrol at 150nrs per litre - an outrageous amount really - but I got enough to enjoy my inaugural ride into work today. News has it that the shortage will be over soon as the NOC just acquired a 2.5 billion NRS loan to buy more petrol, but it is likely that queueing time will not decrease for several more days as the backlog of petrol thirsty commuters get their fill.
The fuel shortage isn't just limited to petrol however. Kerosene which is widely used to fuel household heaters is nearly dry, as well as LPG gas which nearly everyone uses for cooking. Add water shortages and load shedding on top of the list and we'll be burning the coffee table soon to get through the night!
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