Despite opposition from within the Cabinet and outside, the Dr. Manmo-han Singh government has approved a doubling of natural gas prices from the present $4.2 per mBtuto $8.4 per mBtu from April 1, 2014. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Mr. Veerappa Moily told newsmen that the CCEA has approved $8.4 per mBtu as the new gas price to be effective from April 1, 2014. Many experts feel the increase would likely lead to a hike in power tariffs, increase fertilizer Cost and make CNG transportation more expensive. In the Cabinet meeting, some ministers objected to the hike when gas production from the KG D6 block had been consistently falling and asked why no action was being taken to arrest that fall. As a result of the hike, power tariffs are likely to go up sharply and so would the subsidy outgo on fertilizers. Earlier, the government allowed the pass-through mechanism for the power sector providing for passing on to the consumer through a tariff hike any increase in costs due to import of coal.
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