CNG and cooking gas price hiked by 45 paisa per unit in the NCR

After petrol and diesel, CNG and piped cooking gas prices were hiked by 45 paisa per unit in the national capital region with effect from midnight tonight.

CNG price in Delhi will go up by 45 paisa to Rs 38 per kg in Delhi while the same in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad will increase by 50 paisa to Rs 43.30 per kg, Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) said in a statement here.

Similarly, the rates of piped cooking gas supplied to households has been revised from Rs 24.90 per cubic meter to Rs 25.35 per scm in Delhi.

Due to differential tax structure in Uttar Pradesh, the applicable price of domestic PNG to households in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be Rs 27.05 per scm, which is being increased from existing Rs 26.55 per scm.

"However, in a major relief to many domestic customers, the upper slab of PNG consumption is being abolished and there will only be a single slab rate with effect from May 18," IGL said.

The higher consumption slab of usage beyond 36 scm in two months has been abolished and all the domestic PNG customers shall be charged at a single rate applicable in their respective city.

The increase comes on back of Rs 3.13 per litre hike in petrol and Rs 2.71 per litre increase in diesel rates effected from yesterday.

Explaining the reasons leading to the revision in the prices of CNG and PNG, the official spokesperson of IGL said the marginal revision has been necessitated due to recent appreciation of US dollar vis-à-vis rupee and the increase in the operating expenses as a result of increase in minimum wages announced by the government.

"The base price of natural gas being procured by IGL is dollar linked thereby making the entire input price totally dependent on price of dollar vis-à-vis rupee," he said. 

However, this increase would have a negligible impact on the per km running cost of vehicles.

For autos, the increase would be mere 1 paise per km, for taxi it would be 2 paise per km and in case of buses, the increase would be just 13 paise per km. The CNG price being charged by IGL would still be among the lowest in the country, IGL said.

Even with the revised price, CNG would offer over 58% savings towards the running cost when compared to petrol driven vehicles at the current level of prices in Delhi.

When compared to diesel driven vehicles, the economics in favour of CNG at revised price would be over 27% in Delhi, it said.