Thursday, September 1, 2016

Cooking gas price slashed by Rs 50 per cylinder

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has reduced the price of cooking gas by Rs 50 per cylinder effective from today midnight. The meeting of NOC management today afternoon took the decision to reduce the price of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) – popularly known as cooking gas – price by Rs 50 per cylinder, according to the spokesperson of the NOC Bhanubhakta Khanal.
A cylinder of cooking gas will cost Rs 1,325 in the domestic market – after the downward adjustment of the price – from earlier Rs 1,375.
Even after reducing price, the NOC is making a profit of Rs 61.70 per cylinder, as the state oil monopoly has been earning a profit of Rs 111.70 per cylinder, while selling at Rs 1,375 a cylinder earlier. In addition to profit, NOC collects Rs 69.33 on every cylinder as infrastructure development tariff to build its infrastructure, which means that even after revising the price, NOC will still generate profit worth Rs 131.03 on sales of a cylinder.
Likewise, NOC makes a profit of Rs 10.65 per liter of petrol, 5.38 per liter diesel and 16.88 per liter kerosene but the state fuel monopoly has not revised the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene though the price list of its sole supplier Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) – of September 1 – has increased the price of other petroleum products.
"Since the major festivals are around the corner, we have decided not to increase the price of other petroleum products,” Khanal said, adding that the NOC has reduced the price of cooking gas as per the direction of Supplies Ministry to give relief to consumers ahead of festive season, he added.
The NOC receives new price list as per the international market rates – every fortnight – on the first and 16th day of every Gregorian calendar from its supplier IOC.
Based on the supplier's price list, which is based on the international market rates, the state oil monopoly has introduced automatic pricing mechanism to make adjustments – upward or downward according to price movement – to the prices of petroleum products on September 29, 2014, though the NOC has been reluctant in regularly following the mechanism, and implement it effectively.
In what is seen as a consumer-friendly decision on Sunday, the Supplies Ministry had announced the sale of essentials including cooking gas, lentils, rice, ghee, oil, sugar, paneer and goat at subsidised rates throughout the coming festive season.
The government has announced a festive season discount of Rs 5 per kg for 15 varieties of rice sold by Nepal Food Corporation (NFC), Rs 5 per kg for a kg of sugar and Rs 2 per kg for salt sold by Salt Trading Corporation (STC), and a Rs 10 per kg festive subsidy for ghee sold by the Dairy Development Corporation (DDC).

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