State buses may soon ply on natural gas

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR, DEC. 3. The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) may become the first transport corporation fleet in the country to switch to compressed natural gas (CNG) from the costly and fast-diminishing diesel. There is no dearth of natural gas to run the 9,000- strong fleet. The GSRTC is only awaiting completion of the feasibility study report and the success of the trial run of the CNG-operated buses in Surat.

But even if all other aspects prove favourable, as the initial indications are, still the GSRTC will have to fight it out with the State Government. The cash-starved State exchequer would not easily let go the income from the sale of CNG, particularly when it has the prospect of becoming the main fuel for vehicular operations, and without which the GSRTC, and possibly the vehicle owners in general, will find converting to the CNG uneconomical.

While the 16 per cent excise duty on the CNG is the same as in Maharashtra and in Delhi, it is the State Government's sales tax and the octroi levied by the municipal corporations and even some of the municipalities and panchayats that make the CNG costlier in Gujarat than in other States. As against 4 per cent sales tax in Maharashtra, it is 8.8 per cent in Gujarat where the consumers will also have to pay another 2.5 per cent towards octroi. There is no octroi on CNG in Maharashtra, while Delhi has neither sales tax nor octroi.

The plan to switch to the CNG by the GSRTC is still at a very preliminary stage but has bright prospects. It has entrusted the task to prepare the feasibility report to another State-owned organisation, the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) which is carrying it out in Surat, the nearest city from the Hazira fields having one of the largest reserves of natural gas. Besides, Surat is also the second biggest city after Ahmedabad and operates a large chunk of the GSRTC buses.

The GSPC supplies natural gas to its sister concern, the Gujarat Gas Company Limited (GGCL), also owned by the State Government, for distribution to domestic, commercial and industrial users in and around Surat and the industrial township of Ankleshwar in Broach district. The GGCL has set up a CNG station in Surat and is catering to the needs of a small number of private vehicles converted into CNG.

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