Imphal, December 15 2010: Deputy General Manager of the IOC's State office at Guwahati P Anbalagan and Senior Manager Binod Sharma arrived here today and held talks with the transporters to roll back their stand of suspending transportation of petroleum and its products to Manipur.

The meeting between the visiting IOC officials and representatives of All Manipur Petroleum Products was held at Hotel Classic here.

During the meeting, the visiting IOC officials proposed that transporters should continue their service at the current rate of transportation charge at least for the next two months while waiting for the finalisation of a new transportation rate.

The current transportation rate, which has been in effect since 2007, actually expired in September last year.

In accordance with an earlier agreement, the current rate is to be followed till December with an additional amount of 15 percent from the side of IOC and an incentive amount of Rs 5,000 from the Government of Manipur.

However, the Government of Manipur has not given the promised incentive amount to the transporters till date.

To the proposal of IOC officials to continue for another two months at the current rate, the transporters demanded that the 15 percent being given from the side of IOC should be increased, which was not acceptable to the IOC officials.

To exert pressure on the IOC officials, transporters also showed the approved transportation rate of the Government being applied on the trucks requisitioned by FCI and pointed out that the rate is due to be revised within the next 2/3 months.

However, no agreement could be arrived at between the two parties.

Meanwhile, sources in All Manipur Petroleum Products and Transporters' Association have informed that there is no change in the stand of the transporters to suspend service from January next year as there has been no agreement between the IOC and the Association.

Even though IOC has started the process of floating a fresh tender to finalise a new transportation fare, the Association is likely to boycott the tender as no company has offered any new rate.Fuel shortage in Manipur has become endemic.

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