Cooking gas price hits record high

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Sept. 2: The price of cooking gas (liquefied petroleum gas) reached Rs. 1,895  per cylinder in Nepal after the Nepal Oil Corporation adjusted the price on Thursday night. It is the highest price of LPG ever fixed in Nepal. 

The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) increased the price of LPG by Rs. 235 per cylinder effective from Friday morning. With the latest price increment, a cylinder of cooking gas now costs Rs. 1,895 in the market.

According to the spokesperson for NOC, Manoj Kumar Thakur, the new price set for cooking gas is the highest in the history of Nepal.

Earlier, the price of cooking gas had reached Rs. 1,800 per cylinder in May 2022. 

The price further dropped to Rs. 17,90 per cylinder in July 2023.

Due to a fall in its price in the international market, the NOC again dropped the price of cooking gas to Rs. 1,660 per cylinder on August 1, 2023.

However, a meeting of the NOC’s board of directors held on Thursday decided to increase the prices of cooking gas, petrol, diesel and kerosene.

The NOC has adjusted the fuel prices, including cooking gas as per the auto pricing system, said Thakur.

According to Thakur, the price of petroleum products, including LPG has been hiked after the Indian Oil Corporation increased their prices. Nepal imports all fuel from India. 

Under the automatic pricing system, the Corporation sets the prices by keeping a profit of 2 per cent on diesel and 2.5 per cent on petrol.

However, the Corporation fixes the prices of LPG without keeping any profit margin, he said.

The high price hike in cooking gas is likely to affect the general public.

According to the Corporation, the price of petrol has increased by Rs. 4 per litre and diesel and kerosene by Rs. 3 per litre each.

According to the new price, petrol will now be Rs. 179.5 per litre in the first category, Rs. 181 in the second category and Rs. 172 in the third category.

Similarly, the price of diesel and kerosene will now be at Rs. 167.5 per litre in the first category, Rs. 169 per litre in the second category and Rs. 170 per litre in the third category. 

The price of aviation fuel has remained unchanged, said the NOC.