Nepal Oil Corporation on Tuesday hiked the prices of petroleum products. Effective from midnight, 5th July, the price of petrol will be Rs 181 per litre (increment of Rs 2 per litre), diesel and kerosene will be Rs 172 per litre (increment of Rs 9 per litre). The price of LPG cylinders has remained unchanged at Rs 1800 per cylinder.

Meanwhile, citiing mounting payment deficits to Indian Oil Corporation, Nepal Oil Corporation on Monday shared a letter each to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and the Ministry of Home Affairs, proposing measures to curb fuel imports.

Proposed measures include implementation of odd-even system for private vehicles (except for emergency services), allocation of fuel quota for two-wheelers and four-wheelers respectively. Another proposal is to announce a vehicle-free public holiday every Saturday in major cities, according to Corporation’s spokesperson Binit Mani Upadhyay.

The proposal also includes installation of charging stations along national highways and providing charge facilities for major cities for electric vehicles (EV) free of cost to promote the usage of EVs.

According to the NOC, Nepal’s outstanding dues to IOC has reached Rs 22 billion, and is expected to reach around Rs 30 billion this week. NOC’s monthly loss stands at Rs 10 billion, and its cumulative loss is expected to reach Rs 55 billion by the end of the current financial year.