The central government has approved the recommendations of the Kirit Parikh Committee on domestic natural gas prices. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the new formula for fixing the price of domestic natural gas.
With this government decision, the pricing of fuels like PNG (piped natural gas) and CNG (compressed natural gas) is likely to decrease. The two domestic natural gas prices are reviewed by the government each year. However, there was no modification in gas prices on April 1, 2023, since the government was still to make a decision about the Parikh Committee’s recommendations.
The Kirit Parikh Committee has recommended that the government should reduce excise duty on CNG until a decision is taken to bring natural gas under GST.
The Kirit Parikh Committee has also advised the government to impose GST on natural gas. The company proposes that it should be with the states’ permission. In this case, the states must pay the Center for any losses incurred over a period of five years in order to execute it.
Abolishing the three-year petrol price ceiling is another recommendation made by the Kirit Parikh Committee. The Committee has also suggested that the pricing range for natural gas generated from the country’s old gas reserves be set at $ 4 to $ 6.5 per unit.