CNG sector urges govt to reduce subsidies on natural gas

The All

Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) on Monday said the compressed natural gas
sector is at the verge of destruction due to parity between the price of petrol
and local gas.

The price of

gas should have been reduced after a decrease in the price of petrol to keep
the troubled business of CNG viable as both the fuels are linked, Central
Chairman APCNGA Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha said in a statement.

He said the

CNG sector that is crumbling due to costly natural gas, unbearable burden of
taxes, and indifference of the government would leave thousands of dealers
bankrupt, around 400,000 people unemployed while an investment of Rs400 wiped
out.

Paracha said some

five hundred thousand vehicles in the country couldn’t be run on petrol.

He said some

favourite sectors are addicted to subsidies since long, while the burden of
their subsidies is shifted to the CNG sector that is unjustified.

“Now the CNG

sector is unable to bear the burden of blue-eyed sectors, therefore the
government should reduce subsidies to make natural gas economical for the CNG
sector,” Paracha said.

He said CNG

stations in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan are using natural gas for
whom gas tariff should be reduced, taxation should be relaxed and GIDC should
be abolished so that they remain viable.

He lamented

that the government continue to support influential sectors and business mafia
but it has always ignored the CNG sector.

“If the

situation is not improved the leaders of CNG sectors will be unable to stop dealers
and workers from protests,” the APCNGA leader warned.