The constant rise in prices of petrol and diesel has forced Mumbaikars to covert their cars into Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). According to city’s sole gas supplier, Mahanagr Gas Limited (MGL) there has been an increase in the number of vehicles plying on CNG in the last 5 years. 

 

While in March 2010 there were around 2 lakh vehicles running on CNG, the figure now stands at over 3.6 lakh in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) not counting the rickshaws, taxis and BEST buses which already run on the cheaper CNG.  According to a MGL official, “These days more private vehicles were opting for CNG. "Today, there is an increasing trend among private vehicles to opt for CNG. In March 2010, there were only about 3,200 private cars running on CNG, but today nearly 44,000 vehicles in the MMR ply on CNG."

 

Dheeraj Sharma, a resident of Dadar who drives everyday to Navi Mumbai for work, recently converted his petrol Honda City into a CNG, “Its been two months that I have been driving on CNG and after calculations I have found out that I have saved more than 70 % of my petrol expenses.”

 

The good news is the city's CNG capacity is geared to take in more vehicles. "In the past 5 years, MGL has added 27 CNG stations in MMR. Today, MGL supplies CNG across Mumbai and neighbouring areas through a network of 171 stations having over 900 dispensing points and a compression capacity of about 24 lakh kg/day, which is more than double the present CNG sales," a company official said.