CNG price likely to go up by Rs 22 per kg in Sindh

KARACHI: A day after Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) notified increase in gas tariff, the CNG stations' owner have decided to hike the prices by Rs 22 per kg from tomorrow (Saturday).

With this massive jump in the prices, the Compressed Natural Gas will be retailed at Rs 104 per kg in Sindh province.

the government has increased the rates for the CNG sector in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 40 percent to Rs980 from Rs700 per unit.

on Thursday, the government notified increase in gas prices for seven different gas consumption slabs, with 10 percent hike for lowest slab and 143 percent raise for the highest gas consuming slab.

These new prices would be effective from September 27, 2018. It is worth mentioning that the government has increased the slabs from earlier three to now seven brackets.

Following the ECC decision of September 17, 2018, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) notified the gas prices for domestic, commercial, industrial, power, fertilizer, cement and CNG sector consumers of both the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL).

According the notification, the domestic sector, which includes standalone meters, mosques, churches, temples, madrassas, other places of religion and hostels, has been divided into seven slabs starting from the consumers using up to 50 cubic meter and going beyond 500 cubic meters. The minimum charge for the domestic sector is Rs163.35 per month. The first slab of domestic consumers is the one up to 50 cubic meters consumption. The monthly tariff for this slab has been increased by 10 percent from Rs110 per mmbtu to Rs121. The monthly bill, excluding taxes, will increase from Rs252 to Rs275.

The second slab is of 100 cubic meters and about 2.638 million or 28 percent consumers fall in this slab. The price for the slab has been increased by 15 percent from Rs110 per mmbtu to Rs127 and its monthly bill will increase from Rs480 to Rs551.

The third slab of up to 200 cubic meters involving 1.74 million or 19 percent domestic consumers. The tariff for the slab has been increased by 20 percent from Rs220 per mmbtu to Rs264. The monthly bill without GST will increase Rs1,850 to Rs2,216.

The slab of up to 300 cubic meters involved 0.436 million or 5 percent consumers. The tariff for this slab has been increased by 25 percent from Rs220 to Rs275 and their monthly bill will jump from Rs2,764 to Rs3,449.

The fifth domestic slab of up to 400 cubic meters involves 524,391 or 6 percent consumers. The price for this category has been increased by 30 percent from Rs600 to Rs780 per mmbtu. The monthly bills of this slab will jump from Rs10,000 to Rs13,000 and after adding GST it will go to Rs15,300.

The highest increase was made to sixth and seventh slabs. The price for the sixth slab of up to 500 cubic meters and seventh slab of more than 500 cubic meters has been increased by 143 percent from Rs600 per mmbtu to Rs1,460 per mmbtu. The monthly gas bill of 500 cubic meters will surge from Rs12,500 to Rs30,340 and after adding GST will reach to Rs35,500. Only two percent or 226,129 consumers fall in this category. Similarly, the monthly bill of more than 500 cubic meters will increase from Rs15,000 to Rs36,400 and further reach to Rs42,520 with addition of GST.

The gas sale price for special commercial consumers, including tandoors, has been increased by 40 percent to Rs980 from Rs700 per mmbtu. The minimum charges for this sector is Rs163.35 per month.

In fertilizer sector, the gas sale price for feedstock (old consumers) has been increased by 50 percent to Rs185 from Rs123 per unit and that for fuel stock by 40 percent to Rs780 from Rs600.

The gas price for industrial and captive power plants for registered manufacturers or exporters of five zero-rated sectors, textile (including jute), carpets, leather, sports and surgical goods, was kept unchanged at Rs600 per mmbtu. A new category for these industrial consumers will be created.

The gas sale price for general industrial and captive power plants has been increased by 40 percent to Rs780 from Rs600 per mmbtu and that for the power sector by 57 percent to Rs629 (which is average prescribed price of SNGPL) from Rs400 per unit.

The gas rate for the cement sector has been increased by 30 percent to Rs975 from Rs750 per mmbtu. Rates for the CNG sector in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been raised by 40 percent to Rs980 from Rs700 per unit.