ISLAMABAD: The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) industry has offered to provide 43 percent and 55 percent cheaper eco-friendly fuel to the motor vehicles in comparison with the price of petrol and diesel respectively in order to provide immediate relief to the public.
On behalf of the CNG industry, Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, a senior leader of the CNG association, said the CNG industry was ready to offer a cheaper eco-friendly fuel of CNG to the motor vehicles in order to provide immediate relief to the public and the national exchequer as well.
He said that CNG was 43 percent cheaper to the current high price of petrol while it (the CNG) was 55 percent inexpensive to the skyrocketing diesel price even if the government facilitate the CNG industry to bring and purchase gas for the CNG sector.
He said the CNG sector had full capacity to immediately provide cheap, alternate and eco-friendly fuel to the motor vehicles as CNG stations are established across the country. “If the private sector is allowed to import LNG for CNG sector then within one-year period the fuel import bill can be decreased by $2.1 billion dollar, and circular debt can be reduced by Rs1500 billion while public transport fares can be reduced to 50 percent within no time with the restoration of gas supply to CNG stations,” said Paracha.
Paracha added the CNG industry was ready to prove its claim on every forum and wanted from the government to give the industry a level-playing field to run business.
“CNG stations are established across the country, and vehicles also already got fitted CNG kits while oil prices are touching the record high level, so the government should focus on the CNG sector.”
About relief to the masses and the country’s economy especially the national exchequer, Parcha said the CNG sector could be helpful in decreasing the mushrooming menace of the circular debt by Rs1500 per annum only if the industry (CNG) was supplied the needed gas and provided a level playing field by the government to run the business. He said that currently, the CNG sector was getting gas from the government at an expansive price ranging between $13 per Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) to $20/MMBTU while the government was supplying the gas to all other sectors at the rate ranging between $3/MMBTU to $8/MMBTU.
He said the government must immediately take policy decisions regarding restoration of the gas supply to the CNG sector in order to save the national exchequer from the additional burden of ever-increasing circular debt that had crossed Rs2 trillion in the energy sector and also to save the skin of already burdened public from the mounting oil prices in the global oil market, which was causing colossal additional burden on public after every 15 days.
Instead of supplying gas to the CNG industry, the government was supplying gas to those sectors which were also getting heavy subsidies, said Paracha.
Requesting the government to restore the gas supply to CNG sector, Paracha asked to immediately open the CNG stations of Punjab which were facing closure for the last seven months (7th December 2021 till date) in a bid to save the public from the impact of rising oil prices in the international oil market.
He said the government could save $2.1 billion per annum in import bill, if it facilitated the private sector in liquefied natural gas (LNG) import while a 50 percent reduction in public transport fares was also possible only if the government restored local gas supply to the CNG sector.
He said the revival of the CNG sector could generate thousands of new employment/job opportunities while the use of CNG as an alternate fuel for motor vehicles was equivalent to having an environmental benefit of 152.63 million trees per annum.
“The CNG is still cheaper than the prevailing petrol price while its price will be cheaper than petrol if the private sector is allowed to import LNG for the CNG sector of the country,” said Paracha.
He added that ironically, expansive Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) was supplied to those sectors which were getting the subsidy and they were not paying the price of RLNG in time while the CNG sector was ready to pay the full price of gas in time but it (the CNG sector) was denied to obtain RLNG to run their businesses which were established with the hard-earned investment of approximately Rs350 billion of the countrymen.
Total 2,300 CNG stations are established in the country and out of which 1,100 CNG stations are located in Punjab, 600 CNG stations are situated in Sindh, 575 CNG stations are operating in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 25 CNG stations have been established in Balochistan province.
At present, approximately 50pc of the total CNG stations of Punjab have suspended their operation due to the non-availability of gas.
Similarly, Rs150 billion worth local investment so far made in developing the CNG kits has been facing serious danger due to the closure of the CNG stations and the non-availability of gas as a fuel for motor vehicles.
Furthermore, direct and indirect employment in the CNG sector is 0.51 million and total gas consumption required by the entire CNG sector is 400 Million Cubic Feet per Day.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022