Kochi: Four Compressed Natural Gas stations will be opened at various parts in Ernakulam district from February with the work reaching final stages. The CNG fuel stations, being set up by Indian Oil-Adani Gas Pvt Ltd (IOAGPL), are coming up at Kalamasserry-FACT road, near KSRTC Garage at Muttom, along the national highway at Kalamassery and Kundanoor. “Compressed natural gas will be first taken from LNG Puthuvypeen terminal to the station near the new bus terminal at Kalamassery and then supplied to the pumps through steel pipelines having a diametre of eight inches. Separate dispenser tanks have been installed at the fuels stations to store the CNG,” said an official.
Upon setting up the fuel stations, the Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation (KURTC) would start rolling out CNG-operated buses in Kochi. “The talks with German bank KFW to fund Rs 700 crore Low Carbon project of the KURTC are in the final stages. Once the CNG dispensation centres are set up, we’ll hasten the process. As per the plan to operate on clean fuel, the corporation will introduce 550 environment friendly buses in Kochi including electric buses and those fueled by CNG,” a KURTC official said. At a later stage, the KURTC also plans to deploy clean fuel buses in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram cities too. Besides reducing pollution substantially, the use of CNG will help cut down on fuel cost.
