A driver could only absorb the cost or pass it to passengers
In the early hours of a Sunday morning, the price of compressed natural gas rose again across Delhi-NCR, continuing a months-long pattern that began when global energy markets shifted in late 2021. Indraprastha Gas Limited, caught between climbing crude oil prices and a weakening rupee, passed the burden onward — two rupees per kilogram at a time. For the auto drivers and taxi operators who form the living circulatory system of one of the world's great cities, each increment is not an abstraction but a subtraction from livelihood. The government has formed a committee, which is both a response and a deferral, as the world's energy pressures continue to arrive at the smallest scales of daily life.
- CNG prices jumped Rs 2/kg across Delhi-NCR at 6 am Sunday, pushing Delhi to Rs 73.61/kg and Gurugram as high as Rs 81.94/kg — the latest in a relentless series of hikes since October 2021.
- Global crude at USD 111.55/barrel and a rupee weakened to 77.47 against the dollar are squeezing city gas distributors with forces no local policy can easily absorb.
- Auto, taxi, and minibus unions have already reached a breaking point — last month's strike was a warning that the cumulative weight of repeated hikes has become economically unbearable for drivers.
- The Delhi government acknowledged the crisis by forming a fare revision committee, but its timeline offers no immediate relief as prices continue their upward rhythm.
- The structural collision between volatile global commodity markets and the thin margins of urban transport workers remains unresolved, with another price increase possible before any committee decision lands.
At six o'clock on a Sunday morning, Indraprastha Gas Limited raised CNG prices by two rupees per kilogram across Delhi-NCR. Delhi moved to Rs 73.61/kg, Noida to Rs 76.17, Gurugram to Rs 81.94, with cities further out reaching even higher. It was the latest step in a climb that had been underway since October 2021.
The increases had not been random. Over the final months of 2021, prices rose by nearly nine rupees per kilogram. Through early 2022, hikes came almost weekly. The pace sharpened after state elections concluded and accelerated again when the government doubled domestic gas rates to USD 6.1 per MMBTU in April. Behind it all: Brent crude at USD 111.55 a barrel and a rupee trading at 77.47 to the dollar — global forces that city gas distributors could only translate, not absorb.
For Delhi's auto drivers, taxi operators, and minibus owners, the cumulative toll had grown impossible to ignore. Their unions called a strike the previous month, describing the hikes as unprecedented and demanding both lower fuel costs and higher passenger fares. The Delhi administration responded by announcing a committee to review fare structures — an acknowledgment that the status quo was unsustainable, even if not yet a solution.
The question hanging over the city as May began was one of timing: whether relief would arrive before the next price increase, and whether the people who move Delhi each day could afford to wait.
On Sunday morning at six o'clock, the price of compressed natural gas jumped across the Delhi-NCR region. Indraprastha Gas Limited, the utility that supplies CNG to the capital and surrounding areas, raised rates by two rupees per kilogram. In Delhi itself, the fuel now cost 73.61 rupees per kilogram. In Noida, the price climbed to 76.17 rupees. Gurugram drivers faced 81.94 rupees per kilogram. The increases rippled outward: Rewari at 84.07 rupees, Kanpur and Hamirpur and Fatehpur all at 85.40 rupees, Ajmer at 83.88 rupees.
This was not an isolated event. Since October of the previous year, when both domestic and international gas prices began their upward march, the utility had raised CNG costs repeatedly. Over the final three months of 2021, prices had climbed by 8.74 rupees per kilogram. Then, starting in January 2022, the increases became almost rhythmic—fifty paise added nearly every week. The pattern accelerated after state assembly elections concluded in five states, and it intensified further when the government doubled domestic gas rates to 6.1 dollars per million British thermal units, effective April first.
The forces driving these increases were global and structural. Brent crude oil was trading at 111.55 dollars per barrel. The rupee had weakened to 77.47 against the dollar. These movements, invisible to most people until they appeared at the pump, translated directly into what families and workers paid for fuel. City gas distributors had little choice but to pass the costs along.
For the people who depended on CNG most—the auto drivers, taxi operators, and minibus owners who formed the backbone of Delhi's transport system—the cumulative effect had become unbearable. The previous month, their unions had called a strike. They called the price increases unprecedented. They demanded that the government reduce fuel costs and raise passenger fares to compensate for their losses. The Delhi administration, facing the pressure, had announced the formation of a committee to review fare structures within a defined timeframe.
What emerged was a collision between global commodity markets and the economics of urban mobility. A driver in Delhi could not negotiate with OPEC or the currency markets. He could only absorb the cost or pass it to passengers, and passengers had limits to what they could afford. The government's committee represented an acknowledgment that something had to give—that the current trajectory was unsustainable for the people who moved the city. Whether the committee's work would arrive in time, or whether prices would climb again before any decision was made, remained an open question as May began.
Notable Quotes
Drivers' unions called the price increases unprecedented and demanded fuel price reductions and passenger fare increases— Delhi auto, taxi, and minibus drivers' unions
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a price change in one utility matter enough to write about?
Because it touches everyone who moves through the city. When CNG costs jump two rupees, it's not abstract—it's a taxi driver deciding whether to work that day, a family choosing between a ride and something else.
But prices go up all the time. What made this different?
The speed and the pattern. Fifty paise almost every week since January. Eight rupees in three months. Drivers said they'd never seen it move this fast. That's when they stopped absorbing it and went on strike.
So the strike was about more than just money?
It was about survival. If your income is fixed and your costs keep rising, you're losing ground every week. The strike was saying: this can't continue.
What's the government's role in all this?
They set the domestic gas price, which they doubled in April. But they're also caught—global crude is at 111 dollars a barrel. They can't control that. So they formed a committee to look at passenger fares instead, trying to find a way to let drivers recover their losses.
Will that actually help?
Maybe, if fares rise fast enough. But there's a lag. Committees take time. Prices don't wait.