The reason behind the shift is the price factor as LPG has become cheaper compared to kerosene over the period, according to experts.Cost of kerosene and LPG as cooking fuel for urban household was Rs 270 and Rs 410 per month, respectively, in 2000. Now LPG costs less compared to kerosene, according to Amrit Nakarmi, Professor at Center for Energy Studies, Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk.
The cost for a household to cook by using kerosene and LPG per month is above Rs 1,300 and Rs 988, respectively, Nakarmi told Republica.
Experts also say LPG cooks faster compared to kerosene and emits no smoke. Not only in urban areas, many remittance-earning families in rural areas have switched to LPG, they said.
"Many families would have switched to electricity, which is cheaper than LPG, had there been no load-shedding," he added.
Urban households have witnessed acute shortage of LPG as the unofficial blockade by India entered into eighth day on Friday.
The cost for using electricity as cooking fuel for households stands at Rs 960 per month. However, officials of Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) say not a single household has reported electricity as cooking fuel in the census and surveys conducted by it.
"Only the generation of additional 1,300 MW can replace LPG as cooking fuel. It will also reduce fuel imports by around 43 percent as uninterrupted power supply will eliminate the use generators powered by fossil fuel," added Nakarmi.
Nepal imports petroleum products and LPG worth around Rs 50 billion annually.
Introduction of demand side management by installing Time of Day (ToD) tariff can encourage consumers to use electricity for cooking. It will also ease demand during peak hours.
There has been very little change in the number of people using firewood, cow dung and bio-gas as main cooking fuel over the past 12 years. But 13 percent household using kerosene as cooking fuel has shifted to LPG. Around 22.4 percent of total households in the country used LPG as cooking fuel, according to Annual Household Survey 2012/13.
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