With the inauguration of two CNG pumps in the city, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)s are gearing up to sell their CNG portfolio to customers here. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) which sells factory fitted CNG vehicles has already sold a few vehicles last week including the Dzire Tour S and Alto. Others including Hyundai and Tata Motors offers dealership fitted CNG vehicles.
With a running cost of Rs 3 per kilometer in Calcutta (according to a fleet operator), CNG is not only cheaper than petrol or diesel which have running costs of Rs 7 per km and Rs 6 per km respectively, it is also an eco-friendly fuel that is retailing at Calcutta at Rs 67.67 per kg.
Apart from Calcutta, there are CNG stations at Durgapur, Asansol, Bardhaman and Krishnanagar.
“Till December 2020, total number of CNG stations in Bengal stood at 13 where as all-India there were 2,540 stations. In the next five years, Bengal will have 510 stations and pan-India the number will be 1,18,000,” said Shashank Srivastava, executive director, marketing and sales, MSIL.
“While the overall industry has been down, CNG vehicles has shown a steady growth over the years. In FY 2017-18, Maruti sold 75,400 units, in FY18-19, 99,800, in FY 19-20, 106,000, in FY 2021, 139,000 vehicles.
“Maruti’s CNG portfolio includes Alto, Celerio, Wagon-R, S-Presso, Eeco, Ertiga, Tour S and Super Carry and the company enjoys 88 per cent of the market share in CNG segment. On an average, Maruti’s CNG variants give a mileage of 29 km per kg. Moreover, CNG vehicles are about Rs 75000 cheaper than diesel vehicles,” said Srivastava.
