INDIA: The price of natural gas touched new heights, increasing by 40 per cent. Natural gases help in generating electricity or fertilizer, which turns into compressed natural gas (CNG).
This is the third increment in rates since April 2019. According to the government, it is to strengthen energy prices in the global market.
As per orders of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), an autonomous body of the petroleum ministry, “the rate paid for gas produced from old fields, which make up for nearly two-thirds of all gas produced in the country, was hiked to USD 8.57 per million British thermal units from the current USD 6.1. Similarly, the price of gas from newer launch fields like the ones in Reliance Industries and its partner BP plc’s operated deepsea D6 block in the KG basin was hiked to USD 12.6 per mmBtu from USD 9.92, ” said the order.
The government is all set to increase the price of gas every six months on April 1 and October 1 consistently each year, based on the rates of surplus nations that are prevalent in gas such as the US, Canada, and Russia in one year with a lag of one quarter.
The committee, led by former planning commission member Kirit S. Parikh, requested that a “fair price to the end-consumer” be provided by the end of September, but the report was delayed.
At the ground level, higher gas prices mean that each customer needs to pay more at the pump, leaving less to spend on other goods and services.
Many people rely upon natural gas for their livelihoods, and the cost of living simultaneously increased with the hike.
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