July 02, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 27, 1429

KARACHI, July 1: The CNG station owners started charging Rs51.25 per kg from the consumers on Tuesday against Rs38.25 per kg following 31 per cent increase in gas prices by the government.

The decision to raise the charges was taken by CNG Dealers Association chairman Abdul Sami Khan after a meeting with its members.

On the contrary, CNG Station Owners Association of Pakistan chairman Malik Khuda Bux said that his association had decided to charge new rate after midnight on Wednesday.

Sami Khan further said that so far the government had not announced any decision on five per cent gas development levy (GDL). “In case it is implemented the price of CNG will further go up by Rs2.50 per kg,” he added.

He said that the CNG dealers in Punjab had been putting up pressure for observing a strike against the gas price hike on Friday. He said he would be going to Lahore on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

Mr Sami was of the view that the government was trying to bulldoze the industry by bringing the gas price at par with diesel.

Malik Khuda Bux admitted that the increase in CNG rate was definitely a burden on the consumers but the government should consider fixing separate tariffs for domestic and commercial users.

Talking to Dawn he anticipated 10-15 per cent drop in CNG consumption as the consumers will avoid taking a leisure ride on their vehicles. The consumers will restrict their movement to selective destinations, he added.

He said that despite a massive increase of Rs13 per kg, the saving ratio for running a car on CNG is still 49.4 per cent as compared to car running on petrol because its rate had also surged substantially.

He claimed that Pakistan became number one country in the use of CNG-fitted vehicles and currently 1.73 million cars and other vehicles run on gas in the country as compared to 1.64 million in Argentina and 1.22 million in Brazil.

With regard to number of CNG stations Pakistan excels with 2,130 stations as compared to 671 in Argentina and 911 in Brazil.

He said an estimated Rs92 billion had been invested in the CNG sector and Rs12 billion investments in CNG stations was in the pipeline.

He said that since the CNG was produced locally, there was no need to link its rates with the international crude oil prices.