LP Gas price hike possible

Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, Madav Prasad Regmi, has said that there is no alternative left but to hike the price of cooking gas considering the rise in price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the international market.

“With the rise in price of the LPG (commonly called cooking gas) in the international market, it is not feasible to keeping selling cooking gas by bearing huge losses. This is why discussion is underway to review the price of cooking gas,” Regmi was quoted as saying at a programme in Butwal.

Although the government secretary said that the price of cooking gas would increase, he didn’t say by how much it would go up. He further said that the consumers have no option but to support the possible hike in the price of cooking gas as the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is incurring a loss of Rs 1.6 billion every month from the sale of cooking gas alone.

However, the statement by the secretary Regmi is in stark contrast to NOC which last week ruled out hike in the price of coking gas at least for now, instead pledging to ease the supply system of the LPG.

Although it appears that there is shortage of LPG in the market to some extent, its price would not increase immediately and its shortage is also next to impossible as the supply system is well-adjusted, NOC officials told state-owned media recently. NOC said it is incurring a loss of Rs. 755.38 per cylinder of LPG alone. The total loss is one billion 50 million per month.