Mumbai: After nearly half a dozen times of hikes, the city gas utility Mahanagar Gas (MGL) on Tuesday announced a reduction of Rs 2.50 per kilogram to Rs 87 per kilogram in the price of compressed natural gas (CNG), effective from Wednesday. However, the company left the price of cooking gas PNG unchanged.
The state-owned company said that the marginal cut in prices is in anticipation of the increased allocation of domestically produced natural gas from high pressure-high temperature areas to distribution entities by the oil ministry, which lowers its input gas cost. "After this reduction, the retail price of the fuel will come down to Rs 87 per kilogram in and around Mumbai," said the company in a statement.
Since April 6, the price of CNG had gone up by Rs 29.50 per kilogram and that of piped natural gas (PNG) for residential use by Rs 18.50 to reach Rs 54. CNG price on November 4 had peaked at Rs 89.50 per kilogram and that of PNG at Rs 54 per kilogram.
This is the first price reduction since the second week of April 2022 when it had announced a price reduction following the massive cut in VAT on the fuel by the state government from 13.5 percent to just three percent. But on the same day, the centre more than doubled the prices at source, leading to a massive increase by the utility from the second week of April. Since then, it has been jacking up prices regularly.
On April 1, 2022 the price of CNG was reduced by Rs 6/kg to Rs 60 per kg, and PNG by Rs 3.50 to 36 per scm (standard cubic metre), following the reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT).
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