An extreme shortage of cooking LPG gas has been evident in the markets of Nepal. Liquefied Petroleum Gas LPG is a major growing fuel used for cooking purposes in Nepal, especially in the urban areas. Reports suggest that 44% of households nationwide use LPG while over 50% still rely on traditional biomass like firewood in the rural areas. Despite rising electricity usage, Nepal still imports a substantial amount of LPG spending billions as it is still a major source of fuel for many.
 |
| Source: Urjakhabar |
The Department of Commerce Supplies and Consumer Protection DoCSCP has been active in the inspection and monitoring of the market following the shortage. Three separate teams with four members have been employed for the inspection and grocery shops and LPG industries will be inspected. Narahari Tiwari, director at the DoCSCP stated that rising demand and short supply are the reasons behind the current situation and people involved in the black marketing of LPG will be punished by law.
While ordinary people are facing the problem of shortage, the Nepal Oil Corporation claims they have increased imports and the situation is totally fabricated. The corporation states that consumers are unnecessarily purchasing and hoarding stock, making others difficult to access the stuff.
Taking advantage of this shortage, artificial scarcity is being created in the market making ordinary people panic even more. It is forcing people to buy new gas cylinders at an increased rate rather than exchanging the cylinders from different gas companies.
Vishnu Prasad Timilsina, consumer rights activist, claimed that the current market situation is more about ‘selling cylinders’ rather than selling gas. He stated,
“The main objective of traders now is to sell cylinders rather than sell gas. They are aiming to offroad those worn out cylinders onto the government later. Charging consumers up to NPR 4600 4800 without providing a bill is outright black marketing.”
He claims that there is a lot going in the market with the amount of money people have to pay for a cylinder.
“ The price of gas is NPR 1910, the remaining amount is the cylinder deposit, but if no bill is provided, consumers will not get their money back when they return the cylinder tomorrow.”
NOC said that sufficient LPG was imported during the winter season last year. It stated that a monthly quota of 49,500 tonnes of gas has been fixed for industrial purposes in Nepal with 47,264 tonnes imported in November 2025, 48,531 tonnes in December and 47,304 tonnes in January 2026. NOC states that the quantity of LPG imported is sufficient to meet winter demand. It has directed the related people to streamline supplies and normalize the market.
The corporation forwarded additional preparation for February. The statement said,
“Considering the upcoming election and current demand, the corporation has decided to add 2,000 tonnes of gas to the regular quota for February. For this purpose, ‘bottlers wise allocation’ has already been sent for imports for various refineries and bottling plants of Indian Oil Corporation.”
Demand of LPG inclines in both Nepal and India during the winter season especially from mid December to mid February as households use geysers and heaters. According to the Nepal gas traders, Nepal imports LPG from India through bullet tankers and India cuts the supply when demand rises in India.
The immediate past president of Nepal LP Gas Industries Association, Shiva Prasad Ghimire said that high transport costs in India has discouraged the transporters as the number of vehicles transporting gas has cut with only 20-25% at present.
He said,
“Transport costs have been piling up in the past four months, and we are seeing its impact now.”
“Moreover, when people hoard three to four cylinders, it becomes very difficult to stabilize supply quickly.”
As Nepal is heading towards parliamentary election on 5th March 2026, the corporation has increased LPG orders by 2000 tonnes for February. Nepal imported 274,805 tonnes of LPG worth Rs 27 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year until mid January. In the last fiscal year, Nepal imported 554,612 tonnes of LPG worth Rs 62.58 billion in total.
