Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Damodar Bhandari has said the government has made much progress in terms of devising policy on mixing ethanol in petroleum products.

Addressing the programme titled 'Extensive Debate on Mixing Ethanol in Petroleum Products' organized by Nepal Association of Financial Journalists (NAFIJ) here today, Minister Bhandari asserted that the government has already made the necessary preparation regarding the 'ethanol mixing policy'.

"The Regulations Related to Mixing Ethanol in Petroleum Products has already been developed. Only the price remains to be fixed now. We will sort this out within a month," he said, adding that the government has already given directives along with necessary policy-related arrangements to the Nepal Oil Corporation to move ahead on this in the context of reducing the consumption of 200 thousand kilolitres of petroleum products daily through the production of ethanol.

According to the Minister, production of ethanol will also help in creating employment within the country itself apart from reducing the consumption of petroleum products.

The discussion was organized in the context of mixing 10 per cent ethanol in petroleum products which is being talked of late. Although a policy related to this was formulated in 2060 BS, it has not been implemented yet.

NOC has made the necessary preparations for and expressed its commitment to produce and mix ethanol saying it is feasible.