New Delhi: A day after natural gas prices were cut by 8 per cent, CNG and piped cooking gas rates in the national capital region were reduced by 60 paisa per kg on April 1 . Indraprastha Gas, which retails compressed natural gas to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the NCR, said the new rates would be effective from midnight. CNG price in Delhi will be reduced by Rs 0.60 per kg to Rs 37.55, while in adjoining Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad it will cost 70 paisa less at Rs 42.80, IGL said in a statement.
Also, the consumer price of piped natural gas to the households in Delhi has been reduced by Rs 0.60 per standard cubic meter from Rs 25.50 per scm to Rs 24.90 per scm up to consumption of 36 scm in two months with effect from April 1.
Beyond the consumption of 36 scm in two months, the applicable rate remains unchanged. The rate cut follows government cutting price of natural gas, the input for CNG and piped cooking gas, by 8 per cent to USD 4.66 per million British thermal unit. "This would benefit nearly 5.5 lakh households and owners of over 8,00,000 CNG-run vehicles," IGL said. Due to differential tax structure in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the applicable price of domestic PNG to households in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad from today would be Rs 26.55 per scm up to consumption of 36 scm in two months, which has been reduced by Rs 0.75 per scm from Rs 27.30 per scm.
IGL Managing Director Narendra Kumar said: "The reduction in prices of domestically produced natural gas announced by the government has also brought down our overall cost though there has been increase in various operational expenses since the last price revision nearly a year back in May 2014."
He added that reduction in prices of CNG and PNG would give a boost to the entire CGD sector in line with the vision of the government. With the revised price, CNG will offer nearly 55 per cent savings towards the running cost when compared to petrol driven vehicles at the current level of prices. When compared to diesel driven vehicles, the economics in favour of CNG at revised price would be over 22 per cent. IGL is currently catering to over 8,00,000 CNG vehicles in the capital, which include nearly 5,20,000 private cars.
