Only by supplying the compressed natural gas (CNG) sector with adequate gas and providing them with a level playing field in which to operate will they be able to reduce the spiraling circular debt by Rs 1,500 billion per year.
On Tuesday, a prominent leader of the All Pakistan CNG Association named Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha stated that the CNG sector may be helpful in lowering the rapidly expanding issue of the circular debt by Rs1,500 billion per year only if the sector (compressed natural gas) is given the essential gas and allowed a fair playing field by the administration to conduct the company.
He stated that at the present time, the gas is being supplied by the government to the CNG sector at a rate ranging between $13 per Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) and $20 per MMBTU, whereas the government is supplying the gas to all other sectors at a rate ranging between $3 per MMBTU and $8 per MMBTU. The price of gas for the CNG sector is significantly higher than the price of gas for other sectors. He stated that the government must immediately make a policy decision regarding the 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 the already burdened public from the mounting oil prices in the global oil market, which is causing a colossal additional burden on the public every fifteen days.
Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha says that the government is giving gas to industries that are also getting large subsidies, but the CNG industry is being kept from getting gas even though it hasn’t gotten a single cent in the form of a subsidy to help it run its businesses.
In addition to requesting that the government restore gas supply to the CNG sector, Paracha demanded that the CNG stations in Punjab, which have been threatened with closure for the past seven months, be opened immediately. This was done in an effort to protect the general population from the effects of rising oil prices on the global oil market. He stated that the government can save $2.1 billion per year of foreign remittance through the import bill if it facilitates the private sector in liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and that a reduction of public transport fares by fifty percent is also possible only if the government restores local gas supply to the CNG sector. He also stated that the government can save $2.1 billion per year in foreign remittance through the import bill if it imports liquefied natural gas. He said that the revitalization of the CNG industry may result in the creation of thousands of new jobs and job possibilities and that using CNG as an alternative fuel for motor vehicles would have the same positive impact on the environment as planting 152.63 million trees annually. Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha says that the price of CNG is now lower than the price of gasoline at the pump. If the private sector is allowed to import LNG for the country’s natural gas vehicle industry, this trend is likely to continue.
He went on to say that it is ironic that expansive re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) is supplied to those sectors which are getting the subsidy and are not paying the price of RLNG on time, while the CNG sector is ready to pay the full price of gas on time but it (the CNG sector) is denied the ability to obtain RLNG to run their businesses, which were established with a hard-earned investment of approximately Rs350 billion.
It is important to note that there are a total of 2300 CNG stations constructed in the nation, out of which 1100 CNG stations can be found in the province of Punjab, 600 CNG stations can be found in the province of Sindh, and 575 CNG stations can be found in the city of Karachi. There are now working CNG stations in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while there are 25 CNG stations in the province of Balochistan. As of right now, around half of all of the CNG stations in the province of Punjab have stopped operating because of a shortage of gas. This problem has arisen since gas is not readily available. In a similar vein, the local investment of Rs 150 billion that has been made so far in the development of CNG kits is now in grave jeopardy as a direct result of the closure of CNG stations and the lack of availability of gas as a fuel for motor vehicles. In addition, the CNG industry is responsible for 5.1 million jobs, both directly and indirectly.
