CNG comes of age in Kerala

KSRTC has sought permission from the Ministry of Heavy Industries to place an order for a CNG- cum Battery Operated Hybrid bus that would cost Rs 3.15 crore.

“The decision follows talks held with IOC and Adani Group representatives last week on providing CNG fuel in Ernakulam. IOC is now entrusted with the City Gas Distribution project there.

Similarly we are in touch with HLL Life Care in Thiruvananthapuram which too has a CNG plant at its premises. The main task now is to set up CNG fuel stations for which space has turned out to be a major challenge, especially for compressing the gas,” R Sudhakaran, General Manager, KSRTC, told DC.

KSRTC hopes to conduct the trial in six months and start using the fuel in a year. “The Hybrid Volvo bus will cost Rs 3.15 crore out of which 80 per cent will be funded by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The bus can run on both CNG and battery. However, there is no plan to convert the existing fleet into CNG mode since it’s a costly affair,” the officer said.

KMRL plans to use the fuel for running air-conditioned boats as part of the Integrated Water Transport System by 2019.

“In the first phase, the boats will have diesel-electric propulsion. However, we plan to shift operations to the natural gas mode in phase 11 which will be completed by 2019. The fuel could be brought from the LNG Puthuvypeen terminal,” a senior KMRL official said.