Agra CNG users fear hike in prices
Vishal Sharma
New Delhi/ Agra. With the rise in petroleum prices throwing household budgets out of gear, Agra industrialists, utilising CNG for operating their units, too have got worried at the imminent rise in gas prices.
According to local industrialists, CNG was being delivered to their units by Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) at a price of Rs. 6 per cubic metre while any consumption over the prescribed gas limit was charged at about Rs 10.50 per cubic metre.
Recently, the industrialists in the nearby town of Firozabad received a letter from GAIL which stated the prices of the over-limit consumption of gas at Rs 23 per cubic metre, which has created panic among the local industrialists who are shocked at the more than two times hike in gas prices by the company.
Devicharan Agarwal, a local industrialist, said this letter could have only one meaning that GAIL was planning to sneak in the new, higher rates of CNG without taking the industrialists into confidence.
He said that compared to other towns, the industrialists in Agra and Firozabad were bound to using CNG as a fuel for their units due to the stringent pollution norms and at present, over 35 percent of the production cost went into fuel prices as many industrialists who were unaware of their gas demands initially, had opted for lower volumes of gas and were now being charged heavily for the extra consumption.
He said that if the prices of the extra gas were raised to Rs. 23 per cubic meter as per the indication made by GAIL in its letter, it could result in a tremendous rise in the production costs of both the glass industry of Firozabad and the foundries of Agra and at present, when the market for both glass and metal casting was going low, the rise in the gas prices would effectively serve to destroy the industries in these two towns that were solely dependent on CNG for their units.
According to Agarwal, a large number of glass units in Firozabad were operating at merely breakeven levels and these units shall be the first to be shut down, if GAIL planned to go ahead with the rise in gas prices.
He demanded that the company should have intimated the industrialists fairly in advance about the price rise before it decided to go ahead with its decision and the market was in no position to accept this price rise at this point.
According to local industrialists, CNG was being delivered to their units by Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) at a price of Rs. 6 per cubic metre while any consumption over the prescribed gas limit was charged at about Rs 10.50 per cubic metre.
Recently, the industrialists in the nearby town of Firozabad received a letter from GAIL which stated the prices of the over-limit consumption of gas at Rs 23 per cubic metre, which has created panic among the local industrialists who are shocked at the more than two times hike in gas prices by the company.
Devicharan Agarwal, a local industrialist, said this letter could have only one meaning that GAIL was planning to sneak in the new, higher rates of CNG without taking the industrialists into confidence.
He said that compared to other towns, the industrialists in Agra and Firozabad were bound to using CNG as a fuel for their units due to the stringent pollution norms and at present, over 35 percent of the production cost went into fuel prices as many industrialists who were unaware of their gas demands initially, had opted for lower volumes of gas and were now being charged heavily for the extra consumption.
He said that if the prices of the extra gas were raised to Rs. 23 per cubic meter as per the indication made by GAIL in its letter, it could result in a tremendous rise in the production costs of both the glass industry of Firozabad and the foundries of Agra and at present, when the market for both glass and metal casting was going low, the rise in the gas prices would effectively serve to destroy the industries in these two towns that were solely dependent on CNG for their units.
According to Agarwal, a large number of glass units in Firozabad were operating at merely breakeven levels and these units shall be the first to be shut down, if GAIL planned to go ahead with the rise in gas prices.
He demanded that the company should have intimated the industrialists fairly in advance about the price rise before it decided to go ahead with its decision and the market was in no position to accept this price rise at this point.
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