Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 13:

Shankar Prasad Sharma, vice-chairman of National Planning Commission, today said the prices of petroleum products should be hiked to lessen the loss Nepal Oil Corporation is bearing.

He said that the corporation, the government-owned sole distributor of petroleum products, has been bearing losses for the past six months or so and the loss could be lessened if the price of petroleum products is hiked by a couple of rupees per litre.

Addressing the inaugural session of a three-day workshop on renewable energy and sustainable development here today, Dr Sharma shed light on the practical problems in promoting the use of renewal energy. He said electricity and other means of renewable energy are still expensive in Nepal and majority of the population cannot afford them.

Dr Madan Prasad Basnet, ED of Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, said controlling the excessive use of firewood for cooking purposes and providing smokeless kitchen to the millions of housewives can change the state of health and environment in the country. Bikash Pandey, country representative of Winrock International, said that both the world is going through an unprecedented transition due to excessive use of fossil fuel and its impact on environment. Prof Dr Uwe Rehling, director of International Institute of Management, said that sustainable development is not possible without peace and stability, adding the present crisis would end very soon.

The programme was organised by Flensburg Association for Energy Management, Nepal.