ISLAMABAD, Jan 1: The All Pakistan CNG Association has decided not to pass on the 10 per cent increase in the price of compressed natural gas, announced on Wednesday, to consumers for the time being and warned the government that the hike would cripple the CNG industry.

Chairman of the association, Tariq Kandan, told reporters here on Thursday that if the government did not withdraw the decision, CNG stations across the country would go on an indefinite strike from Jan 5.

He said if the increase was passed on to consumers, the price of a kilogram of CNG would rise to about Rs50 from the current Rs44.50. This, he said, would cripple the industry because CNG vehicles would be switched over to petrol.

The government and oil marketing companies, he alleged, were conspiring to make petrol cheaper than CNG.

He said the price hike would force owners of many CNG stations to wind up their business. This would make about 400,000 people jobless.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari has taken notice of the shortage of petrol and CNG in many parts of the country.

An official announcement issued here on Thursday said that the president had directed that a meeting of relevant ministries and officials be held for a briefing on steps being taken to resolve the issue. The meeting will be held in the President’s House on Friday.

Aamir Shafaat Khan adds from Karachi: Owners of some CNG stations and some dealers have started offering a discount of Rs2 per kg to consumers. They are selling CNG at Rs42.50 per kg.

The discount appears to be strange when the impact of Wednesday’s increase in gas price comes to Rs2.40 per kg. The dealers have displayed banners offering the discount.

According to a representative of the CNG Dealers Association, station owners were offering price cuts because of falling sales.

He said the dealers had not passed on the impact of Rs1.25 per kg increase to consumers on account of the increase in power rates a few months back, and pump owners were still absorbing it.