KATHMANDU, August 2

The government has reduced the price of cooking gas for the first time since January 26, 2012. The price of cooking gas had not been reduced since long because its price had been increasing in the international market.

The board of Nepal Oil Corporation, on the direction of Commerce Minister Sunil Bahadur Thapa, reduced the price of cooking gas by Rs 35 per cylinder and aviation fuel by Rs 15 a litre, on Sunday. After the recent price adjustment, cooking gas will now cost Rs 1,435 and aviation fuel for domestic airlines will cost Rs 118 per litre. Similarly, fuel cost for international airlines has also been lowered by $75 per thousand litres to $1325, according to NOC Spokesman Mukunda Ghimire.

The state-owned petroleum supply monopoly has also reduced the price of petrol, diesel and kerosene based on the automatic pricing mechanism that was introduced on September 29, 2014. This mechanism allows NOC to review price of petrol, diesel and kerosene every fortnight based on the price-list forwarded by Indian Oil Corporation. IOC sends the price list of fuels as per the international market rate on the first and 16th working day of the English calendar.

NOC has revisited the fuel prices based on the price list of IOC sent on August 1. It has cut the market price of petrol, diesel and kerosene by Rs 2.50 a litre. As per the revised rates, a litre of petrol will now cost Rs 106.50, diesel Rs 84 and kerosene Rs 84. NOC can revise the price of petrol, diesel and kerosene by up to two per cent — reduce or hike — from the existing market price as per the trend of the international market because the automatic pricing mechanism only allows up to two per cent revision at one time.

After revising the price, NOC’s monthly profit is expected to hover around Rs 850 million in August. For the first time after three-and-a-half years, NOC will generate a profit of Rs 1.15 on each cylinder of cooking gas.