Compressed natural gas (CNG) stations will remain closed till July 9 in Sindh, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) announced on Monday. CNG stations in the province have been closed since June 22 and were scheduled to resume operations from 8am tomorrow, CNG associations said while responding to the development. A few days back, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Power & Petroleum Tabish Gauhar, during a TV interview, had said the country would face a gas shortage from June 29-July 5.
On June 22, Sameer Najam Al Hussain, the coordinator of the Sindh zone of the All Pakistan CNG Association, had said the decision came after they had received a notification of gas supply closure for an indefinite period.
The 2021-22 budget recently gave rise to concerns about a price hike for CNG due to a proposed general sales tax on LNG by the government. The All Pakistan CNG Association said the imposition of new and additional taxes of LNG will increase the price of CNG from Rs6 to Rs9 per kilogramme.