ISLAMABAD: The All Pakistan CNG Association on Thursday underlined the need for taking solid steps to resolve issues of the sector.
"CNG sector needs immediate attention of authorities as billions of rupees have been invested in it and 3.5 million cars have been converted in addition to the millions of people who are directly and indirectly employed in this sector," said Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, Chairman Supreme Council APCNGA.
He said price of the CNG in Pakistan was highest in the region therefore it must be brought down in line with other countries in the national interest.
"Price of CNG in Pakistan should match other countries as people are already grappling with inflation," he said.
He said the decisions for the CNG sector were taken on merit and as a result these badly affected the sector as powerful lobby was out to boost its business.
He was of the view that gas was an indigenous resource which was economical and clean as compared to imported fuels which were costly and unfriendly to environment.
Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha informed that price of CNG in Thailand in 76.70 per cent less as compared to price of petrol.
Similarly, in Bangladesh, CNG is available at 68.61 per cent lesser price, Indonesia 51.65 per cent and in India it is 58.84 per cent of the cost of petrol.
He said many countries including India and Bangladesh did not have any indigenous substitute for gasoline and they lack proper gas infrastructure.
But, he added, these countries sell CNG at low price as compared to Pakistan despite importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and paying for conversion to enable it for use in vehicles.
As a policy, US and many EU countries have been promoting use of gas to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels due to uncertainty in supply chain, volatility in prices, and save foreign exchange, he said.
He added many countries were doing away with expensive LPG but here CNG sector was being closed to boost import of costly fuel.
Total consumption of CNG sector in Pakistan was not more than 8 per cent but it had to pay more taxes as compared to any other sector using gas, Mr Paracha observed.
He informed that before 2002, there was a ban on running thermal power plants on CNG. It was Musharraf's era when country started running power stations on clean fuel despite scarcity.
This decision resulted in depletion of precious gas reserves which took toll on masses and economy, deprived industry of economical fuel, and contributed to rapid environmental degradation, he added.
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