The state-owned Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) on Wednesday, fixed the prices of goats and mountain goats for the upcoming Dashain festival. It has fixed the price at Rs455 per kg for goats and Rs675 per kg for mountain goats.

During the festival, thousands of goats and mountain goats will either be sacrificed for the ritual or for consumption.

The state-owned company fixed the prices of goats and mountain goats for the Dashain sacrificial ritual and feasting, making a slight upward revision compared to last year’s prices.

Shankar Sapkota, spokesperson of NFC, said the prices for goats and mountain goats fixed by the corporation were lower than what private traders charge. According to him, mountain goat prices at the market was Rs750 per kg on Wednesday while goats were being sold at Rs480 per kg. 

Last year, the corporation had fixed the price at Rs434 per kg for goats and Rs630 per kg for mountain goats.

Sapkota said that they would begin selling mountain goats from Thursday. However, goats will only be available from Friday onwards. “We currently have 500 mountain goats. Another 500 mountain goats will arrive in the Capital from Mustang by Saturday,” said Sapkota.  

The corporation plans to sell 2,500 goats this Dashain.  Goats are sold from the NFC’s outlet in Thapathali, Kathmandu. 

However, even with the fixed prices by NFC, Dashain revellers may need a fatter wallet during the meat-heavy festival as goat prices are expected to increase due to a rise in freight charges. The animals are likely to cost 20 percent more than last year, traders said.

Dealers expect live goat prices to reach Rs570 per kg, up from last year’s Rs470, owing to a drop in domestic production and increased transportation costs of imports. According to the Nepal Livestock Traders Association, the market sees a massive rise in meat prices after Ghatasthapana day, the first day of the fortnight-long festival, as traders usually seek to make a killing during the festive rush. Ghatasthapana falls on Thursday. 

Buffalos, goats, chickens and ducks numbering in the hundreds of thousands are killed across the country to appease the Hindu Goddess Durga and provide meat for the extended feasting.

Last year, the government had imposed a price ceiling for chicken and goat meat in the Kathmandu Valley in a bid to prevent possible price hikes during the festival. 

The government had forbidden meat shops to charge more than Rs285 per kg for chicken and Rs850 per kg for mutton. According to the association, demand in the Valley is likely to exceed 65,000 goats. 

Private traders are expected to bring 8,000 to 10,000 mountain goats from Mustang this year. The price of live mountain goats is also expected to rise to Rs850 per kg, from last year’s Rs700. 

There are around 400 traders dealing in goats in the main markets of the Valley. 

“NFC supplies a small quantity of goats, and the move is directed more at intervening in the market to keep prices stable than fulfilling the total requirement,” said Sapkota. According to the Department of Customs, Nepal imported 327,897 live goats in the last fiscal year. The live animal import bill came to Rs1.93 billion.