National
IGL raises CNG, PNG prices to offset gas price hike
CNG and PNG will become costlier in Delhi and its suburbs from Thursday as Indraprastha Gas Ltd raised prices to offset the impact of a 10% increase in the price of natural gas produced from domestic fields, a move that is likely to prompt demand for revision in auto, bus and taxi fares in the poll season.
In Delhi, CNG price would rise by Re 1 per and by Rs 1.15 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. CNG will now cost Rs 45.70 per kg in Delhi and Rs 51.95 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.
The revised cost of CNG in Gurugram and Rewari would be Rs 57.50 per kg, in Karnal Rs 54.50 per kg and in Muzaffarnagar Rs 60.70 per kg.
This is the sixth increase in CNG price in the last 12 months since April 1, 2018. CNG price was last raised in November. Most of those increases were prompted by an increase in the price of domestic natural gas and fall in rupee value against the dollar.
PNG price too would go up by 70 paise per unit (scm) in all the markets supplied by IGL. In Delhi, the price would go up from Rs 29.80 to Rs 30.50. In Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad the new price would be Rs 30 per scm. In Rewari, the applicable price of PNG would now be Rs 30.55 per scm. The price difference is due to the impact of incremental increase in taxes.
IGL is supplying PNG to over 7.25 lakh households in Delhi and over 3.5 lakh households in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Rewari.
IGL said the increase would have only “a marginal impact” on the per-km running cost of vehicles but a demand for hike in auto and bus fares cannot be ruled out in the poll season.
For autos, the increase would be 3 paisa per km, for taxis it would be 5 paisa per km and in case of buses, the increase would be 28 paise per km in Delhi. Even after the increase, CNG would still offer over 54% savings towards the running cost when compared to petrol vehicles at the current price levels. When compared to diesel vehicles, the economics in favour of CNG would be over 30%.