Effective from Wednesday, the state-run gas utility Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) has reduced its prices for compressed natural gas (CNG) by six rupees per kg and domestic piped natural gas (PNG) by four rupees per standard cubic meter in and around Mumbai.
Revised CNG & PNG Prices
While talking on the subject, MGL said that reduction in prices are affected by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas revising upwards the allocation of domestically produced natural gas.
Prior to this, MGL had increased prices for CNG and PNG by a similar amount during the first week of August.
It seems to be the sixth hike since April this year.
Moreover, the price of PNG has been reduced by Rs 4 per standard cubic meter to Rs 48.50 per SCM.
Similarly, the price of CNG is reduced by Rs 6 a kilogram to Rs 80 per kg, report noted.
Attractive Savings With This Cut Down
The company said, “The revised price of CNG offers attractive savings of about 48% compared to petrol at current price level in Mumbai. MGL’s Domestic PNG offers around 18% saving as compared to current MRP of Domestic LPG while delivering unmatched convenience, safety, reliability and environmental friendliness to consumers,”.
Demands From Rickshaw And Taxi Drivers
Earlier, MGL had increased the retail price of CNG and PNG in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region by Rs 6/kg and Rs 4/SCM respectively during August 2, 2022, after that, rickshaw and taxi unions of the city demanded a hike in the fare.
That time, welcoming the decision, leader of one of the prominent rickshaw unions of the city, Thampy Kurian said, “It’s good for rickshaw drivers as well as for Mumbaikars, but we still need a fare hike of Rs 3 in the minimum fare.” Currently, the minimum fare of the rikshaw is Rs 21.
It is noteworthy here that the minimum fare for taxis and autos has remained unchanged since a Rs 3 hike in February 2021.
In August after the last price hike, the minimum fare for auto which was Rs 18, increased to Rs 21 while the base fare for the kaali peeli taxis was increased to Rs 25 from Rs 22.
If we consider the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, it has over 8 lakh CNG consumers, including several auto-taxi and bus owners and more than 3 lakh private car users who opted for the green fuel as it was cheaper than petrol and diesel besides being environment-friendly.
Besides this, almost 18 lakh households in MMR use PNG.
In the meantime, domestic brokerage house, ICICI Securities upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘add’ with a target price of Rs 980 per share.
Further indicating a potential upside of 25 percent for the stock.