ISLAMABAD, June 14: The ministry of petroleum and natural resources signed an agreement with an association representing CNG suppliers and filling stations on Thursday under which the price of gas would be about 60 per cent of the retail price of petrol.

Under the agreement to be in force for one year starting on Saturday the infrastructure development cess, approved by the National Assembly on Thursday along with other budgetary proposals, would not be imposed on CNG.

The agreement, which envisages a new load management plan, has paved the way for the reopening of CNG dispensing stations in Punjab, with many of them resuming work on Saturday.

The agreement was signed after talks between the government delegation led by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain and a team led by Ghiyas Abdullah Piracha, the chairman of the All Pakistan CNG Association.

Addressing a press conference later, Mr Piracha said the talks had served to thwart the move to increase the CNG price by Rs15 per kg. For the next 12 months, he said, the price of CNG would be about 60 per cent of the price of petrol.

He said the ministry had accepted his association’s stance that the CNG sector consumed only about eight per cent of the total natural gas available in the country.