Now the price of both products will be Rs 59 in the Kathmandu Valley, said Mukunda Dhungel, NOC spokesperson. In the Tarai, the price of diesel and kerosene will be Rs 57.50 per liter. [break]
As in the past, consumers will have to pay 50 paisa extra per liter of kerosene and diesel as pollution tax. The corporation board had decided to hike the prices on late Wednesday night after it received a sudden and ´unexpected´ nod from the government, sources told Republica.
"Import prices had slid and India too had deferred its price hike plan amid soaring food prices. In such a situation, a go-ahead from the government was quite unexpected," said a source.
He elaborated that the board increased the price of kerosene although there already was a huge profit margin in its price, because of its latest policy to sell diesel and kerosene at same prices. The government adopted this policy in a bid to control adulteration of cheaper kerosene in diesel -- something that notorious retailers practiced to pocket undue profit.
The decision has plugged oil loss that the country was suffering since nine months. "It has enabled us earn a monthly profit of about Rs 20 million," said Dhungel. Prior to the decision, the corporation was incurring a loss of Rs 37.50 million a month.
At the new rates, the corporation has said it will earn profit of 75 paisa per liter of diesel and about Rs 6 per liter of kerosene. It is also earning profit some Rs 2 per liter of petrol.
Interestingly, the corporation now suffers loss only on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) -- a product that is consumed by urban consumers. It is suffering a loss of Rs 205 per cylinder (14.2 kgs) of gas.
While officials admitted that pledging a subsidy on cooking gas as a gross waste of state resources, they, however, noted that the government has preferred to put the issue of price correction in the back burner in the midst of protest mainly coming from students and political groups.
Petrol Rs 1.86 per liter
Diesel 75 paisa per liter
Kerosene Rs 6 per liter
LPG (Rs 205 per liter)
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