सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. Commerce Secretary Madhusudan Burlakoti has been transferred after he did not support the policy deviation of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. Industry Minister Damodar Bhandari and Nepal Oil Corporation Executive Officer Chandika Bhatta jointly transferred Secretary Burlakoti. Secretary Burlakoti has been replaced by Govinda Bahadur Karki, who was recently promoted to the position of Secretary.
Secretary Burlakoti, who joined the ministry just a month and a half ago, had been saying that he would not support any policy deviation within the ministry. According to ministry sources, Minister Bhandari has planned to open the import of ethanol in petrol and poppy seeds, betel nut, pepper and carob to limited companies. Secretary Burlakoti was transferred after it was seen that the secretary would not support the minister’s ambitious plan.
What is the plan to adulterate ethanol in petrol ?
He went there on the condition that various plans be approved at the time of his appointment as the Executive Director of Ayal Nigam. Among the various conditions that Bhatta, who reached the corporation by recruiting Ram Chandra Bhatta, a close associate of the Nepali Congress, has put forward, is the plan to mix ethanol in petrol.
The plan to mix ethanol in petrol is not a new plan, it is an old plan. So far, no executive director has dared to take on this plan. But Chandika Bhatta said that since the risk of losing her position if she fails to pass the project has increased, she has taken the plan forward with urgency.
The plan to mix ethanol in petrol is a plan to give 10 percent of the Oil Corporation’s business to the private sector. Bhatta plans to import ethanol to the private sector and purchase ethanol at a high price by giving the responsibility of importing it to only one company.
The Automobile Association of Nepal (NADA), which produces and distributes vehicles, has already opposed the plan to mix ethanol with petrol. NADA says that ethanol has no long-term future, saying that most petroleum vehicles have started to be imported electrically.
However, the corporation chief Bhatta has moved forward with the aim of passing the ethanol plan anyway. A corporation source told Singha Durbar, ‘The current Bhatt seems to be more ambitious than the other executive directors. He had presented the ethanol-related work procedure to the corporation board and the board, but he backed down after being reprimanded by the then Commerce Secretary, who was also the board chairman.’
According to a high-ranking source, Bhatt had been telling people close to him that he would change the secretary and get the ethanol plan passed within a few days. Commerce Secretary Burlakoti was transferred within a few days of making such a statement.
The source claims that if the ethanol plan is passed, a commission of Rs 2 billion will be received. Sources told Singha Durbar, ‘If the ethanol plan is passed, it will generate Rs 2 billion in commission, from which the Ministry of Industry, the Petroleum Corporation, parliamentary committees, political parties and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority will also be established.’
Burlakoti, who is also the board chairman of the corporation, is a strict secretary. The corporation’s executive director Bhatta has not even presented the budget for the fiscal year 2081/082 to the board yet because of his position as the commerce secretary. Board chairman and secretary Burlakoti should not take any chances if his transfer is made in a few days. The only reason for this was ethanol, betel nut and poppy seeds.
A member of the corporation board said, ‘Chandika Bhatt is a very easy-going person, his management skills are weak.’
This is how the setting is being done in betel nut
Former Industries Minister Lekhraj Bhatt had given 2,000 tons of poppy seeds, 25,000 tons of betel nut, 85,000 tons of kerau, pepper and chhokda to a limited trading company. Subsequent industry ministers had also repeatedly planned to distribute quotas for betel nut, pepper, and kerau chhokda.
But none of the ministers after Bhatta have been able to make this plan successful. Currently, only the related industries are allowed to import all four items. Trading firms are not allowed to import. Minister Bhandari is planning to grant import permission to trading firms.
Secretary Burlakoti had been an obstacle to this plan of Minister Bhandari. Businessmen are ready to pay a commission of Rs 30 to 35 per kilo for betel nut, while they are ready to pay a commission of Rs 60 to 100 per kilo for poppy seeds. Currently, there is no margin for kerau and chhokda. Traders have been saying that there is a margin on black pepper. These items are imported from third countries and then stolen and exported to India.
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