Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has raised the prices of petroleum products, citing price fluctuations in the international market.
A meeting of the board of directors of the state-owned petroleum monopolist has increased the prices of petrol by Rs 17 per liter, diesel/kerosene by Rs 25 per liter, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by Rs 100 per cylinder (14.2kg), and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for domestic carriers by Rs 6 per liter.
The new prices came into effect from Thursday midnight.
With the fresh revision, petrol and diesel/kerosene will retail at Rs 219 and Rs 207 perhas liter, respectively, in Kathmandu Valley and major urban cities, while LPG will now cost Rs 2,010 per cylinder. Likewise, ATF will cost Rs 257 per liter for domestic airlines.
Earlier this week, the government lowered customs duty and infrastructure development tax levied on petroleum products by 50% each to provide relief to commoners. Despite, petroleum prices have went up significantly.
NOC meets all its petroleum demand through imports from India. The Indian-government undertaking Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has remained its sole supplier for a long time. NOC fixes prices of petroleum products based on prices rates provided by the IOC, rather than based on international market.
Even after the latest price hike, NOC has claimed that it will still incur a loss of Rs 7.81 billion in a fortnight.
