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.
