CNG price hiked by Rs 2.5 per kg, piped cooking gas by Rs 4.25
New Delhi, Apr 14: Prices of CNG in the national capital on Thursday were hiked by Rs 2.50 per kg and that of piped cooking gas by Rs 4.25 per unit to record levels on the back of surge in raw material cost.
CNG in the national capital territory of Delhi now costs Rs 71.61 per kg, up from Rs 69.11 per kg, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) -- the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital and adjoining cities.
This is the third price hike this month and the 11th since March 7.
In all, the CNG price has risen by Rs 15.6 per kg in less than six weeks. This includes a Rs 7.50 per kg hike in this month alone.
In the last one year, prices have increased by Rs 28.21 per kg or 60 per cent, according to data compiled by PTI.
Alongside, the rates of gas piped to household kitchens, called piped natural gas (PNG), were hiked by Rs 4.25 per cubic meters to cost Rs 45.86 per scm.
City gas distributors have been periodically raising prices since October last year when domestic as well as international gas prices started to climb as economies world over recovered from the pandemic-induced slowdown.
Prices rose by Rs 8.74 per kg in the last three months of 2021, and from January there was a steady increase of about 50 paise a kg almost every week.
The rates have gone up after the government more than doubled the price of natural gas to USD 6.1 per million British thermal unit from April 1.
Natural gas when compressed becomes CNG for use as fuel in automobiles. The same gas is piped to household kitchens and industries for cooking and other purposes.
On Wednesday, Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) raised Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) price by Rs 5 per kg to Rs 72 per kg in Mumbai. It also raised PNG price by Rs 4.50 to Rs 45.50 per scm.
Prices vary from city to city depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT.
The increase in CNG prices follows a Rs 10 per litre hike in petrol and diesel prices in 16 days and a Rs 50 per cylinder raise in the cooking gas LPG rates.
A record 137-day hiatus in petrol and diesel price revision ended on March 22. On the same day, the price of a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder was increased to Rs 949.50 in the national capital. In some places, the LPG price has touched Rs 1,000 per cylinder.
Petrol and diesel prices have been on a freeze for the last eight days. The last price revision took place on April 6.
According to IGL, CNG will now cost Rs 74.61 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad and Rs 79.94 per kg in Gurugram, the cities adjoining Delhi.
PNG in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad will now cost Rs 45.96 per scm and Rs 44.06 in Gurugram.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Raj Thackeray questions need for NEET, demands Pradhan’s resignation
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Thursday questioned the need for NEET-UG and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi seek the resignation of Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan.
Thackeray's demand comes amid massive protests over the cancellation of the examination following allegations of paper leak.
The MNS chief said the government is so “obsessed” with bringing everything under a centralised authority that it appears to make no difference if the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are thrown into “disarray”.
In a post on X, Thackeray said that for several years now, a single individual (Pradhan) has remained entrenched in the position of Union education minister. Despite numerous “irregularities” and “scandals” within the NEET framework during his tenure, this “gentleman” continues to occupy the post, he said.
“One wonders: has he been rewarded with this continued tenure because he is so zealously pursuing the agenda of imposing the Hindi language across the entire nation? I earnestly appeal to the Prime Minister: please demand the immediate resignation of this Minister of yours, who has repeatedly toyed with the lives and future of 22 lakh students,” Thackeray said.
The National Testing Agency on Tuesday cancelled the NEET (UG) 2026 exam held on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak, with the government asking the CBI to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the “irregularities”. The examination for students seeking admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges will now be held afresh on dates to be notified separately.
Thackeray said the Centre continues its tradition of creating “chaos” in every matter and holding the public to ransom. The “NEET paper leak” has proved this once again, he said.
Thackeray sought to know what the Centre did when it found out the alleged malpractice. It merely cancelled the examination and ordered a CBI inquiry, he said.
In 2024, a CBI inquiry was ordered in a similar case, but nothing substantial was achieved through it, he said.
The government projects an air of having fulfilled its duty in all of this. But what about the lives of 22 lakh students and their families, who have been left hanging in the balance, he asked.
Thackeray said fundamentally, there was no need to “impose” NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test)-UG back in 2016.
“However, this government’s obsession with bringing everything under a single, centralised authority is so intense that, to them, it seems to make no difference if the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are thrown into disarray,” he said.
The MNS chief also asked ministers within the Maharashtra government to show some “spine” and join voices with those of the southern states and oppose this system.
Thackeray said leaders from the southern states have voiced their opposition in much the same way as he. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay has also demanded the cancellation of NEET. The reason for this is that the five southern states, combined with Maharashtra, collectively possess over 350 medical colleges, whereas the large states in the north have only 180 medical colleges, he said.
Consequently, this persistent push that began in 2016 is essentially an attempt to facilitate the “entry of students from the north into medical colleges in the south”, alleged Thackeray. To ensure this, the largest network of coaching classes has been established in the northern states, he claimed.
