Shares of city gas distributors fell after domestic gas prices were left unchanged pending a Cabinet decision.

The government said on Friday that India would temporarily keep the price of locally produced natural gas from old fields at $8.57 per million metric British thermal units (mmBtu). At the same time, it considers potential changes to the pricing formula. The cap has been reduced to $12.1 per million British thermal units from $12.5.

Shares of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) and Gujarat Gas were down 1-5% at 10:29 am.

Domestic gas prices have remained unchanged as the government is still considering the recommendations of the Kirit Parikh committee on fair gas pricing. Once accepted, the recommendations are expected to apply retroactively from April 1, 2023, according to a news report.

Kirit Parekh told CNBC-TV18 in an interaction that he heard the Cabinet was considering the proposed proposal. He added that he was personally opposed to retrospectives.

He was unsure whether Cabinet would approve it but said the proposals were being considered.

“If the recommendations of the Kirit Parikh panel are implemented, the cost of imported gas will be reduced by $1.5/mmBtu,” Pawan Kumar, commercial director of Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), told CNBC on TV18 last month.