CNG price nears Petrol, Diesel as rates hiked by Rs 6 per kg; Piped cooking gas PNG prices up by Rs 4

When petrol and diesel prices used to skyrocket, it was the compressed natural gas (CNG) users who were a bit relaxed as CNG has always been cheaper compared to these traditional fuels. However, the recent global trends and a hike in the prices of APM gas which is produced from old fields by the government have led to an increase in the CNG as well as PNG prices.

The government had recently hiked APM gas prices to USD 8.57 per million British thermal units from USD 6.1. You may be aware that APM gas is converted into CNG for the automobile sector and PNG for domestic cooking gas consumers.

The oil ministry's petroleum pricing & analysis cell on September 30 announced new prices for the next six months from October 1, wherein domestically produced gas prices were increased by a steep 40 per cent. On April 1, the same had been increased by a much higher 110 per cent, citing rising international prices.

Mahanagar Gas, which supplies PNG and CNG in Mumbai, has increased the retail price of compressed natural gas by Rs 6/kg and piped natural gas by Rs 4/ SCM. Now, the retail price of CNG is Rs 86/kg and PNG is Rs 52.50/SCM.

With this hike, the price savings between CNG and petrol is down to 45 per cent while that of PNG and LPG is down to 11 per cent. Thus, the users who may have switched to the cheaper alternative may not be saving more compared to their earlier spending on petrol and LPG.

Petrol prices in Delhi stood at Rs 96.72 per litre while Diesel was being sold at Rs 89.62 per litre. In Mumbai, the prices of Petrol were Rs 106.31 per litre while that of Diesel was Rs 94.27 per litre.

With this, Indraprastha Gas Limited which supplies CNG and PNG to the Delhi-NCR area is also likely to increase its prices. The CNG prices in Delhi stand at Rs. 75.61 per kg while the PNG price in the national capital territory is Rs 50.59 per SCM.

(With agency inputs)