Your own party the UML seems to have disowned you for your decision to raise prices. Is this double track strategy deliberate?
I have no idea.

Your party's general secretary, Madhab Kumar Nepal, has gone on record to say he was not informed about the price rise and that the party opposes your move.

A committee formed by the cabinet submitted its recommendations on pricing policy to the government on 11 December. The committee's coordinator NPC vice chairman Shankar Sharma and member secretary Upendra Koirala had informed all the top leaders of the coalition partners on the price increase issue at the prime minister's residence on 10 December. In a democracy, everyone has the right to express their feelings. One must look at the opposition in a positive light as an expression against past aberrations about fuel price fixing. The protestors may have become angry because they do not have the right information.

Some say the government and the fuel dealers are in cahoots.
There is no such deal. The scarcity was due to the result of the obstructed supply in the market because of highway blockades. The Nepal Oil Corporation itself may have also bought less oil earlier but I don't have a clear idea about it.

The NOC act itself prohibits inspection of stocks of petroleum products when prices are about to be raised?
I came to know about the provision in the act only today (Wednesday). Indeed, there was such an understanding two years ago that allowed private dealers to keep their stock without monitoring. They were allowed that facility because they agreed to benefit and accept losses according to price fluctuations. That understanding may need to be reviewed.

How did the government which acted so promptly to raise prices dragged its feet on an understanding that allowed the dealers to profit from hoarding fuel?
I agree that this issue is dubious and needs to be addressed. There are many such anomalies in the NOC with a history that goes back 34 years. I am sure many other irregularities will come to light in the future.

The government is not taking action against industries that are using subsidised kerosene instead of furnace oil. Isn't such leakage at the cost of ordinary Nepalis for whom the kerosene is actually meant?
Such irregularities in the transaction of petroleum products are quite rampant. We will review them all.

Nepal used to buy crude oil and allow it to be refined in India for us. But we are now buying refined products from them at retail prices. Doesn't this make the cost of imported fuel doubly expensive for us?
It is true we used to buy crude but we did that only once. We need to get an entire tanker and our demand doesn't make that feasible. That is why the previous management decided to go for refined products. But you're right, even this issue needs to be reviewed.

So till then the prices will keep going up?
We should not be talking only about price hikes. What we should be talking about is price adjustment with international rates.

Do you have a plan to save the NOC from bankruptcy?
The NOC is autonomous only in theory. Actually, it has always acted as an arm of the government. Now it should be allowed to make pricing and policy independently in the real sense.