He said that if the subsidy was withdrawn the price of kerosene which is Nu. 10 a litre would cost as much as diesel.

The removal of the subsidy would also address a long-standing problem of adulteration of petrol and diesel, a practice, which has existed for decades.

It is said that it is easier to mix kerosene with high-speed diesel because it has almost the same colour.

The unofficial mixing ratio is one barrel of kerosene to three barrels of diesel. Thimphu residents say that it is very difficult to get kerosene.

Trade officials say that there is a growing concern among consumers of petroleum oil lubricant (POL) products that, the quality of fuel available in the country is not as per the standard specification. “It is suspected that some of the retail outlets operators (fuel stations) are indulging in business malpractice through adulteration of fuel with kerosene and water,” a spokesperson of the trade and industry ministry (MTI) told Kuensel.

“Since kerosene is readily and cheaply available chances are high for adulteration with petrol (gasoline) and diesel (high speed diesel) and we have detected some variations in the fuel density,” he added. Bhutan gets a quota of 1250 kl (1 kilolitre = 1000 litres) of kerosene and 500 metric tonnes of LPG cylinders every month.

Today the quantity of petrol and kerosene sold in the country is at par, according to trade officials.

To establish an effective quality control mechanism for POL products, the trade department had arranged a special training for quality control inspectors and POL dealers in Siliguri, India, in January this year.

The ministry has instructed all six regional trade offices (RTO) to depute POL inspectors to inspect and evaluate quality of POL products for adulteration at regular intervals.

The regional trade and industry office in Thimphu imposed fines on three fuel stations for not complying with the rules last month.

The Bhutan Oil distributor (BOD) in Motithang was fined Nu. 10,000 for the variation of POL density and the Damchen Petroleum Distributor (DPD) and Druk Petroleum Corporation Limited (DPCL) were fined Nu. 2,000 each for not maintaining an LPG measuring scale and for variations in quantity of fuel respectively.

According to trade officials the minimum weight of a refilled LPG cooking gas cylinder is 29 kilogrammes.

According to the officials of MTI’s POL division, fuel stations in Thimphu were constantly being monitored and density test of both petrol and diesel was being done using the hydrometer and thermometer.

“If the variation between the observed density and recorded reference is more than +_3, then it indicates possibility of adulteration,” POL’s coordinator Tshering told Kuensel. He said that although they received a number of complaints about the adulteration the office only accepted complaints in writing.

The ministry is also constructing a government of India funded Nu. 10.4 million laboratory in Thimphu, which is to be completed by June 2007. “Once this lab is completed fuel dealers cannot cheat the customers,” said a trade official. “The lab will easily detect ingredients mixed in the fuel.”

The two principle oil companies, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPC), supply petroleum products in Bhutan.