Consumers will now need to pay Rs 88 per liter of petrol. The prices of diesel and kerosene have gone up to Rs 68.50 each. LPG too will now cost Rs 1,325 per cylinder.[break]
LPG Dealers Federation, meanwhile, has flayed the decision to raise the price of LPG. “This has added undue financial burden on consumers,” said Gyaneshwar Aryal, president of the federation.
NOC, however, said that it was left with no other choices but to hike prices given the rise in international crude price and recent increment in roads maintenance fee by the government.
“We know the decision will raise cost of living for the people, but we have the compulsion to narrow down the existing loss and ensure smooth supply in the future,” said NOC spokesperson Mukunda Dhungel.
Citing the new import rates, the corporation last week had announced that it would incur a loss of about Rs 430 million in December 2010. It had warned that it would not be able to ensure supply in the future, if the prices were not increased.
NOC chief Digambhar Jha said that the previous retail rates were fixed when crude was priced US$ 73 per barrel in the international market. Currently, it has jumped up to about US$ 90 per barrel.
Likewise, the government had recently doubled the roads maintenance fee on petrol and diesel import to Rs 4 and Rs 2 per liter respectively. Jha said this alone increased NOC´s cost by around Rs 200 million a month.
With the new hike, the corporation will now earn a profit of about Rs 8 on a liter of kerosene and Rs 2.76 per liter of petrol. However, it will continue to suffer a loss of Rs 2.79 per liter of diesel and Rs 193 per cylinder of LPG.
“In total, the hike has lowered our loss to Rs 170 million from about Rs 430 million for December,” he stated.
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