Mumbai, Nov. 15 -- Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) will become costlier by Rs.1.50 per kg across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and adjoining areas from today, with Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) announcing its eighth price hike this year on Saturday. The new rate is Rs.91.50 per kg. That is Rs.11 more than the Rs.80.50 charged at the start of the year, an increase of around 14% in less than 11 months. The successive hikes have steadily raised fuel costs for autorickshaw and taxi operators, as well as private motorists who use CNG. In a statement, MGL said the revision was driven by rising procurement costs and a greater reliance on imported gas. "The ongoing Middle East crisis, coupled with reduced domestic gas allocation and increased dependence on higher-cost imported RLNG linked to international benchmarks, has significantly increased MGL's gas procurement costs, particularly for the CNG segment, driven by strong demand and a higher share of imported gas in its input mix," it said. The earlier hikes this year were 50 paise in February, Rs.1 in April, Rs.2 each twice in May, Rs.2 in September and Rs.1 each twice in October....