Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) prices are starting from Sunday. CNG will be costlier by Rs 2.50 per kg including tax, while the rate of piped LPG will be increased by Rs 1.50 per unit. “To meet the shortfall in domestic gas allocation, MGL is sourcing additional market value natural gas to meet the growing requirement of CNG and domestic PNG segments. To partially offset the increase in the input cost of gas, MGL is bound to increase the delivery price of CNG by Rs. 2.50/kg in and around Mumbai and Rs 1.50/scm in domestic PNG,” said a statement by GAIL Limited and Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL), a Maharashtra government enterprise.
After the latest hike, CNG will now cost Rs 66 per kg and PNG will be available at Rs 39.50 per standard cubic meter (SCM). The rate of CNG in the Mumbai metropolitan area has increased by more than Rs 18 in the last one year – from February 2021 to January 2022. This was the fifth hike in CNG prices in the last three months.
CNG is considered one of the greenest fuels as compared to petrol and diesel. It is also cheaper than other fossil fuels. Due to lower cost of purchase, generally public transport like auto rickshaws, taxis, large commercial vehicles prefer CNG over petrol and diesel. Many passenger vehicles also shifted to CNG after petrol price touched Rs 100 per liter in the last one year. These vehicle owners will be badly affected by the continuous hike in CNG prices in the last few months.
There will also be an increase in households using piped LPG. According to reports, the budget of 16 lakh people living in metros and surrounding areas and 8 lakh consumers using gas-powered vehicles will increase.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, taxi associations have threatened to go on strike if the state government does not increase the fare of black-and-yellow taxis. “Taxi drivers cannot run at a loss. We have already suffered a lot in 2021 and the cost of CNG and PNG is going up. We have given representation to the state government and if the government does not increase the fare, we will go on strike,” AL Quadros, leader of the Mumbai Taxi Men’s Union, was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
In September 2021, the central government hiked the price of natural gas by 62 percent, which is used to generate electricity, make fertilizers, and CNG to be used as fuel in automobiles and cooking gas for domestic cooking. This was the first increase in rates since April 2019. The Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) said the rates paid for gas produced from fields given to state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL) from April 1 $2.90 per million British thermal units for the six-month period beginning.
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