31% increase in gas tariff to cripple CNG sector

Islamabad : The All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) said budget proposal to increase the tariff of natural gas for the troubled CNG industry by 31 per cent would bankrupt this sector.

The proposal of the government, if accepted, will lay waste to the CNG industry in which trillions of rupees have been invested while it will also leave millions unemployed, it said.

Speaking to a meeting of, leader of the CNG sector Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha said that the decision to increase natural gas tariff from the current Rs980 per mmbtu to Rs1,283 per mmbtu will ruin the CNG stations in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The government should reconsider the decision as the strained CNG sector has lost all the strength to endure more tax measures or carry the load of other sectors.

Ghiyas Paracha said CNG sector should not be subjected to discrimination and the recent proposal should be reversed at the government has already increased natural gas tariff by 40 per cent six months ago.

Appreciation in the value of the dollar has brought the price of CNG closer to petrol and further taxes can end the difference for CNG sector, he said, adding that the collapse of the CNG industry will also put the government in trouble as it will not be able to recover their bills. The leader of the CNG sector demanded the government to eliminate GIDC and reverse decisions to increase the tariff of natural gas and invalidate the decision to slap customs duty on import of LNG.