Move comes in wake of growing complaints that high price could hit Visit Nepal Year 2020
KATHMANDU, Sept 22: The Nepal Oil Corporation has slashed the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) by US$50 per kiloliter for international carriers in the wake of growing complaints from tourism and international airlines companies that the jet fuel price was too high in Nepal.
The state-owned oil monopoly decided to revise down the price of LPG on Thursday and brought into effect from Friday midnight.
Now, the price of the ATF for international carriers stands at $1,000 per kilo liter, down from $1,050.
The NOC officials say that the price of the ATF for international carriers has been lowered to help in making the Visit Nepal Year 2020 a success.
ATF price slashed by Rs 10 per liter
International airlines have long been complaining that the price of the ATF is very high in Nepal which has not only been a factor of high airfare but also discouraging them for the expansion of their operations or adding more flights. The price of the fuel for international airlines is very high compared to the price in India or other countries.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) was also urging the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies to lower the price of the ATF in line with the demands of the international airlines and tourism entrepreneurs.
Some of the airlines making flights in Nepal have reportedly shown reluctance to add more flights to and from Kathmandu in the lead up to the Visit Nepal Year 2020 due to high fuel cost in Nepal.
However, international airlines companies say that the reduction in the price is very low.
According to NOC officials, the state-owned fuel monopoly has been using the profit earned from the high ATF price to subsidize the losses that it incurs in other petroleum products in Nepal.
Similarly, the NOC has also lowered the retail price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by Rs 25 per cylinder to Rs 1,325.
The state-owned oil monopoly decided to revise down the price of LPG on Thursday in line with the price in the international market.
The new price of the LPG came into effect from midnight of Friday, according to the NOC. The price of per cylinder LPG was Rs 1,350 earlier. The price of the LPG is, however, only for the Kathmandu valley.
Issuing a statement, the NOC said that it decided to lower the price of the LPG widely used by households in Nepal for cooking purpose after it got the revised rate from the Indian Oil Corporation, which is the sole supplier of petroleum products to Nepal.
Meanwhile, the NOC has also said that it was already taken forward the automated price mechanism to revise the price of ATF and LPG also in line with the prices in the international market.
Earlier on September 11, the NOC has reduced the price of diesel, petrol and kerosene by Rs 2 per liter coinciding with the formal launch of the India-Nepal cross border petroleum pipeline (Motihari-Amlekhgunj).
