Adani Total Gas cuts CNG prices by ₹8.13/kg, PNG by ₹5.06/scm

Adani Total Gas Ltd (ATGL), part of billionaire Gautam Adani’s group of companies, on Saturday reduced prices of compressed natural gas (CNG) by ₹8.13 per kg and those of piped natural gas (PNG) by ₹5.06 per standard cubic metre (scm).The new prices are effective as of today.

This comes a day after the Union Cabinet announced new gas pricing guidelines for the bulk of domestically-produced natural gas by state-run explorers.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved new gas pricing guidelines, paving the way for linking natural gas prices in India to global crude prices. Under the new guidelines, the price of natural gas will be 10% of the monthly average of the Indian crude basket, a weighted average of Dubai and Oman (sour) and Brent Crude (sweet) oil prices.

The Cabinet also approved a floor price of $4 per metric million British thermal unit (mmBtu) and a ceiling of $6.50 per mmBtu under the Administered Price Mechanism (APM) for gas pricing.

“In line with our policy to prioritize our end consumers, ATGL has decided to pass through the benefit of the New Gas Pricing guidelines announced by the Government of India to the large numbers of Home PNG and CNG consumers, thus enhancing the affordability of PNG and CNG with a saving of over 40% for CNG consumers as compared to Petrol prices and around 15% for Home PNG consumers as compared to LPG prices," Adani Total Gas said in a statement.

This will enable our industrial and commercial consumers to consume higher quantities of natural gas thus not only contributing towards the environment, but also optimizing their product costs," the company said.

According to a report by Crisil Ratings, the revised mechanism will help cut CNG, PNG costs by 9 -11%, which would have otherwise risen if the previous regime had continued.

“This revised gas pricing norms would lend greater stability to gas prices for city gas distributors and sustained competitiveness with alternative fuels, thus driving demand and supporting massive capex plans," it said.

Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL), a subsidiary of Gail (India), has also announced a steep reduction in the retail price of CNG by ₹8 per kg and PNG by ₹5 per scm across its licenced area.