Pradhan unveils India’s First CNG Bus which can run 1,000 Kms in one fill

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : In a major step towards making India a gas-based economy and making CNG as the eco-friendly option for long distance transport in the country, Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on December 24, 2019, unveiled India’s first long distance CNG bus fitted with composite CNG cylinders, which can travel around 1,000 km in a single fill.

The project has been executed by Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) and has been achieved through pioneering design of Type IV Composite Cylinders in buses replacing traditional very heavy Type-I Carbon Steel cylinders.

Pradhan described it as a milestone in ease of living for the people of country. He said that these CNG buses are being run on pilot basis but soon they will be scaled on commercial basis. “Delhi has witnessed revolution in shift towards cleaner, gas based fuels. Over 500 CNG stations are operating in Delhi NCR today and about 12 lakh piped natural gas connections have been provided. Over 1,000 PNG connections are being provided daily in the NCR. Long haul CNG buses originating from Delhi to other locations will further drive this shift towards cleaner gas based fuels.

He said that the Government wants to have Green corridor around the national capital with the buses from here to Chandigarh, Dehradun, Agra and Jaipur running on CNG. Pradhan said that India is not a pollutant nation when compared with many others, but being a responsible nation, the Prime Minister has promised to bring down the country’s carbon footprint.  The Minister said that the Government is committed to promote the gas-based economy and in this regard $100 billion investment is being made in the energy infrastructure. He further said that the Government wants to begin door-to-door delivery of Petrol, CNG and LNG, as is being done for Diesel by Mobile dispenser. The Minister added that LNG will also be added as the transportation fuel. P

The introduction of long range CNG buses fitted with light weight composite cylinders has the capacity to revolutionise the fight against air pollution across the nation. Even after shifting of the entire public transport fleet in the national capital to CNG as per mandate of the Supreme Court of India, inter-state buses coming from other cities to Delhi continue to run on diesel. Delhi Transport Corporation had stopped all its inter-state routes in 2001 due to unavailability of CNG in the neighbouring states. CNG buses are on Indian Roads for more than two decades now but due to on-board storage issues these buses are having a range of 200-250 km per fill only, thus the application of CNG buses in short distance or Intra City Transport only.

Mahindra & Mahindra, & Agility Fuel Solutions of USA have partnered with IGL for this project introducing the new concept of light weight Type IV composite cylinders in buses. These cylinders are 70% lighter than the Type – I (all steel) cylinders which are being used in India currently. The main advantage of these Cylinders is that due to its lighter weight, the number of cylinders can be increased in the vehicle thus creating more storage capacity on-board. The buses which used to carry only 80-100 Kg of CNG with steel cylinders can carry 225-275 Kg of CNG with new composite cylinders. More storage of CNG means more km range of buses.

IGL has procured 5 number of Mahindra’s Type IV buses. The Buses would be given to Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) on lease basis after the launch. These will ply on Inter-city routes from Delhi to Dehradun and will be the first CNG Buses in Uttarakhand.