Mumbai Mar 31 PTI The city gas utility Mahanagar Gas on Thursday announced a steep reduction in the retail price of CNG by Rs 6 per kg and piped gas by Rs 350 per scm effective Friday even as the Centre more than doubled the price of domestically-produced natural gas earlier in the day In a statement on Thursday MGL said consequent to the reduction in VAT on natural gas from 135 per cent to 3 per cent from April 1 by the state government MGL has decided to pass on the entire benefit to end-consumers Accordingly the retail price of compressed natural gas CNG is cut by Rs 6 to Rs 60 per kg and domestic piped natural gas PNG by Rs 350 to Rs 36scm in and around Mumbai effective Friday it said When asked for a reaction to the price hike by the Centre for the producers an MGL spokesperson told PTI that the company will evaluate the impact of the massive increase in supply prices in the due course of time and revise its retail prices accordingly Earlier in the day the Centre more than doubled the price of domestically produced natural gas for the six months beginning April 1 on the back of a spike in global energy rates and the move will immensely benefit the likes of Reliance ONGC and Oil India Accordingly the price of gas from regulated fields of state-owned ONGC and Oil India will rise to a record USD610 per million British thermal units mmBtu from USD 290 per mmBtu now according to a notification issued by the oil ministrys Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell The rate paid for difficult fields like deepwater will rise to USD 992 per mmBtu for April-September from USD 613 per mmBtu it said PTI BEN MR