City gas companies have grown their super-profitable CNG sales volume at a faster rate in the past two years than the less profitable segment of gas supplies meant for homes
City gas distributors sold 19.4 million metric standard cubic meters a day (mmscmd) of CNG in six months to March 2023, up 51% from October 2020 to March 2021 period, oil ministry data showed. In the same period, the sale of piped natural gas (PNG) meant for cooking at home rose 11% to 2.9 mmscmd.
Sales to commercial customers that includes hotels and malls, dropped 25% to 0.7 mmscmd, while those to industries fell 38% to 10.3 mmscmd as high imported gas prices forced them to switch to alternative fuels
As a result, the share of CNG in city gas distributors’ overall sales sharply increased to 58% in two years from 39% in the six months to March 2021. The share of sales to industrial customers fell from 50% to 30%. The share of sales to households, or domestic PNG, rose marginally to 8.7% from 8%.