The revision has brought down the price of petrol by Rs 3 per liter, while diesel and kerosene each cost Rs 4 less per liter now. The price of cooking gas has also been reduced by Rs 85 per cylinder.[break]
As per the revised price list, petrol will now cost Rs 112 per liter at all the gas stations in the country. Similarly, diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 81 per liter, and cooking gas will cost Rs 1,415 per cylinder. The new prices came into effect from Thursday.
"We were forced to bring down the prices of petroleum products after consumers, especially students, expressed dissatisfaction over the price hike introduced earlier this month," Minister for Commerce and Supplies Lekh Raj Bhatta told a press meet organized in Kathmandu on Thursday.
Along with the reduction in prices, the minister on Thursday also promised to introduce a relief package for migrant students and low-income groups within a month, so that these vulnerable groups, who suffer the most due to fuel price hike, do not feel neglected.
Bhatta also informed that the government would soon introduce dual prices for cooking gas so that the fuel used for commercial purpose does not enjoy the state subsidy of Rs 361 per cylinder.
However, students have said the packages pledged by the government and the price revisions made on Thursday do not meet their expectations. They have demanded that the government roll back the prices to pre-January 17 level.
On January 17, the government had raised the prices of all petroleum products by an average of 11 percent to plug losses of the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
Following the hike, the state oil import monopoly had started generating a profit of Rs 3.79 on each liter of petrol and Rs 1.73 on every liter of kerosene, while suffering a loss of Rs 12.90 on each liter of diesel. That had lowered its monthly loss from Rs 1.72 billion to Rs 861 million.
However, the fresh downward revision of prices has again raised NOC´s loss to Rs 1.25 billion a month. "Under the new price, now we are earning a mere 70 paisa profit on petrol," said an NOC official. As for other products, NOC is now suffering a loss of Rs 2.28 on every liter of kerosene, about Rs 15 per liter of diesel and Rs 300 per cylinder (14.2 kg) of cooking gas.
Such further deterioration of NOC´s financial health has raised fears that the supply of petroleum products will not remain smooth in the coming days and serpentine queues at gas stations will become an everyday affair for many people.
"To arrest the situation, the government must come up with a national policy on import and supply of petroleum products," Minister Bhatta said.
According to Bhatta, the policy should clearly mention steps to ensure regular supply of fuel in the market and measures the government should take in case of crisis. "Since we don´t have such a policy, we have to suffer whenever international prices of petroleum products go up sharply, as we have to beg the Ministry of Finance to release the amount we need," Bhatta said.
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