Electricity, piped gas, cab/auto fares set to soar

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You will now have to pay more for electricity, piped cooking gas, and taxi, autorickshaw and bus fares.

With the government more than doubling the price of natural gas, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Thursday said that power tariff across the country will go up by about Re 1 per unit (kwh).

"Power tariff would go up. We have not worked out the details, but it is likely to be about Re 1 per unit," Shinde told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci event in New Delhi on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the government raised natural gas prices by more than double -- to $4.20 per mmBtu. The Cabinet also hiked the price of gas sold to power, fertiliser and city gas projects from Rs 3,200 per thousand cubic metres ($1.79 per million British thermal unit) to Rs 6,818 per thousand cubic metres ($3.818 per mmBtu). The revised price is the same that the government had set for gas from Reliance Industries Ltd's Andhra offshore field.

Power tariff is regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.