The state of Gujarat used to levy 15% VAT on all gas sold within the state - both APM as well as imported LNG. After October 1, ONGC has started to levy lower tax for inter-state sale of gas to CGDs, fertilizer companies and power plants.
CGD players including IGL, MGL and Adani Total Gas have undertaken multiple CNG price hikes in-line with the cut in allocation of cheaper domestic gas. APM gas is sold cheaper to city gas distribution players to ensure essential services such as domestic PNG and CNG.
City gas distribution companies, including Indraprastha Gas and Mahanagar Gas, would have to review prices of CNG used by vehicles and domestic Piped Natural Gas due to allocation cuts in cheaper APM gas
The gap between the domestic production and consumption of the transition fuel has led the government to cut cheaper gas allocation to city gas distribution players in the country.
The shortage of administered price mechanism gas, which is partially subsidised by the government, can be attributed to a rise in consumption and a stagnant domestic production
They may, however, lose the lower price advantage of a cheaper Henry Hub gas in the medium term, said analysts. Between October 2015 and March 2023, APM gas prices was higher than the new price ceiling of $6.5 just once and was above the floor of $4 on four occasions out of 17 price fixations.
The company said there was also a lower allocation of APM gas during the quarter which has impacted the gas cost as well as the gross margins.
Gas from the fields of ONGC that came into production after 2010 are being termed as non-APM gas and GAIL has been since November billing higher marketing margin of Rs 10.21 per mmBtu on such fuel sold to consumers, sources said.
Since losses for the company are much higher, the chief financial officer of GAIL,PK Jain, expects the subsidy from the government to increase to Rs 2400-2500 crore for the current year.