Nepal’s import bill on petroleum products declined by Rs 11.07 billion in the last fiscal year despite an increase in import volume of fossil fuels.

The records with the Department of Customs (DoC) show that petroleum products worth Rs 267.68 billion were imported in FY 2023/24. The import expense under the heading in FY 2022/23 was Rs 278.75 billion. It shows a four percent decline in the country’s expenses to import petroleum products.

Out of the petroleum products, import bill on diesel declined by around Rs 10 billion. Compared to import of diesel worth Rs 153.76 billion in the previous FY, Nepal imported diesel of Rs 143.97 billion during last FY.

Likewise, the import bill of cooking gas also dropped from Rs 58.15 billion to Rs 55.61 billion. Import bill of petrol however increased to Rs 68.10 billion from Rs 66.84 billion.

Manoj Thakur, spokesperson for the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), said the decline in fuel price in the international market during the review period took down the import expenses. “On the contrary, the import volume has increased,” said Thakur.

Despite the fall in monetary value of the imported fuels, the volume of all types of the fossil fuels surged in the last FY. According to the DoC, petrol import increased to 1,411,440 kiloliters from 1,408,494 kiloliters.

The increased volume of diesel import has been attributed to the poor electricity supply to the manufacturing sector. Entrepreneurs have been blaming the Nepal Electricity Authority for making unannounced load shedding in production businesses.

Likewise, the import of petrol increased to 687,931 kl from 680,000 kl. The import of cooking gas jumped to 524.2 million kg from 514.3 million kg.

Analysts said the increased purchase of four-wheelers due to change in lifestyle has resulted in the expense on petrol imports. It also shows that an increase in import of electric vehicles could not significantly replace the use of petrol-based cars. The DoC statistics show that Nepal imported 11,701 units of electric vehicles in FY 2023/24, which was almost three times the number imported in the previous fiscal year.