Maharashtra State Road Transport Corp plans shift from diesel to LNG
MSRTC also for the first time floated tenders on Tuesday to procure 500 ordinary buses on wet lease.
Mumbai: The state bus corporation, MSRTC, plans to make its entire fleet of 18,000 buses run on green fuel. It has begun converting 500 of its polluting diesel buses to LNG and has invited bids this week. In phase II, 1,000 buses will be converted into CNG and later 2,700 buses to electric.
MSRTC also for the first time floated tenders on Tuesday to procure 500 ordinary buses on wet lease.
MSRTC managing director Shekhar Channe said, “Our fleet runs on diesel but we want to switch to green fuel. As per new electric vehicle policy, 15% of our fleet will be converted into electric. Besides, I am pushing for 1,000 buses to have CNG kits installed in the engine. LNG is a new experiment. We will have 500 buses plying across the state on this green fuel.”
He stated that the entire fleet will have non-diesel buses, probably by 2022.
On availability of LNG, Channe said it will be part of the contract in which the company converting the engine will ensure its availability. “It is a new experiment for our state and we hope more buses are converted to this green fuel,” he said. As for CNG, Mumbai region has close to 270 refuelling outlets, while the government is setting up 1,500 e-charging stations for electric vehicles.
Channe said the 500 new wet lease buses will work on a business model in which a private contractor provides the bus with driver and pay for fuel and maintenance, while ST gets ticket box earnings after the monthly lease rent.
Channe said the buses on wet lease will be new and will have comfortable seating arrangements.