KATHMANDU, Oct 2: The state-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) has hiked the price of ghee by Rs 100 per liter at a time when Dashain and Tihar, two of the major festivals of Hindus, are around the corner. With the price hike, consumers now have to pay Rs 1,000 per liter to purchase DDC’s ghee.
Ghee is one of the main kitchen ingredients and its demand jumps mainly during the festivals. The state-owned enterprise, just to show that it cares about its customers, has been selling ghee from its fair price shops by giving a discount of Rs 50 per liter. But on the contrary, the market leader of dairy producers has made an unfair move that is sure to hit the consumers.
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According to the DDC, it manufactures and sells an average of 300,000 liters of ghee a year. Given a 50 percent of its sales during the festivals, the state-owned enterprise will take away Rs 15 million from the consumers.
Madhav Timilsina, president of the Consumer Rights Investigation Forum, said DDC’s step has helped develop distrust among the consumers toward government-owned entities. “The corporation should repeal the price hike to provide some relief to the low-income consumers who have been expecting discounts on the products to be used during the festivals,” Timilsina said.
