ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday hiked natural gas rates by up to 112 percent for domestic (daily consumers) and general industries, including export sectors, captive power plants, CNG and IPPs and including the commercial sector.
However, there has been no change in gas rates for ovens. The new prices will be applicable from January 2023.
The development comes after a massive hike in the prices of petroleum products announced on Wednesday.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) issued the notification after consulting the Petroleum Division. The move is to comply with the long-delayed financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“The Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) has informed the decision of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), which was approved by the Federal Cabinet, regarding the sale price of gas, effective from January 1, 2023. Ogra After receiving the said advice, the spokesperson of the regulator said that it has notified the sale prices against each category of retail consumers of natural gas.
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited networks will have the same tariff across the country.
For domestic consumers, the gas consumption level up to 0.1HM cubic per month was earlier charged at Rs 300 per mmbtu and has now been increased to Rs 400, representing an increase of 33.3%. . Similarly, up to 2HM cube/month, the consumption tariff has been increased by 44.7% to Rs 800/mmBtu. For the 3HM cube/month consumer category, the tariff has been increased by 49% to Rs 1100/mmBtu.
For the premium consumer category, the tariff has been hiked the most.
As far as the category of consumers up to 4HM cube/unit is concerned, the tariff has been increased by 80.7% to Rs.2000/mmBtu and similarly for consumers above 4HM cube/month, the tariff has been increased by 112.3%. 3100/mmBtu of Rs.
According to the Ogra notification, the gas off-take for the CNG sector has been fixed at a flat rate of Rs 1,500 per mmbtu from Rs 1,371 per mmbtu earlier.
Interestingly, the consumption slab for domestic consumers has been increased from six slabs to eight slabs. While four other slabs were included under the protected category.
For Independent Power Producers (IPPs), the bulk off-take tariff has been increased to Rs 1,050 per mmbtu from the earlier Rs 857 per mmbtu.
For captive gas consumers, the tariff has been increased to Rs 1,200 per mmbtu from Rs 1,087 per mmbtu earlier. Captive plants are those set up by an industrial undertaking/unit to generate power for its own consumption and/or sell surplus to DISCOs or bulk power consumers. The minimum gas charges for captive power plants have been increased to Rs 36,653 per month from Rs 36,450 per month earlier.
Minimum charges are those charged by the gas utility, whether you use the gas or not, you must pay it. In other words, it is like meter rent in electricity bills or line rent of PTCL phone connection.
The bulk tariff for WAPDA and K Electric power stations has been increased from Rs 857 to Rs 1,050 per mmbtu and the minimum charges have been maintained at Rs 28,898 per month.
The tariff for the cement sector has been increased by 17.5% to Rs 1500 per mmbtu.
For all established commercial units, the tariff has been increased by 28.6% to Rs 1,650 per mmbtu from Rs 1,283 per mmbtu earlier while the minimum charges have been maintained at Rs 6,415 per month. has been kept
Commercial units include those owned by local authorities or those dealing in consumer goods for direct commercial sale such as cafes, bakeries, milk shops, tea stalls, canteens, barber shops, laundries. , hotels, malls, entertainment places like cinemas, clubs, theatres. and private offices, corporate firms, and ice factories.
The minimum monthly charges for tandoors have been maintained at Rs 148.5 per month and there will also be no change in the tariff for all categories.
