Pune to get 17 additional CNG refilling points
Pune: Here’s some good news for owners of CNG-powered vehicles. An additional 17 refilling stations
will be made operational in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad over the next 10 months. Pune has 33 stations
now.
More stations will address two vital issues — long queues of vehicles at existing refilling stations and
non-availability of the gas in core city areas.
Considered cleaner than petrol and diesel, the compressed natural gas (CNG) is used in 40,000
autorickshaws and 1,000 public transport buses besides a number of private cars. There has been a
significant rise in private car owners opting for CNG variants, as per RTO statistics. About 33 refilling
stations, located in the city and fringe areas, supply CNG to the city. The Mahanagar Natural Gas Limited
(MNGL), which supplies the gas to Pune, on Wednesday declared that four more stations would become
operational by next month.
“We plan to increase the number of refilling stations to 50 by the end of 2016. This means about 17
stations will come up in the next 10 months. You will have a refilling station each at Mundhwa, Navi
Sangvi, Lohegaon and Chakan. The work for setting up the stations is in final stages. The new stations
are proposed across the city and even in newly developing areas,” said an MNGL official.
The other locations are Hinjewadi, Bavdhan, Chandni chowk, Kasarwadi, Wakad, Dapodi, Pune-Mumbai
national highway, Magarpatta, Ravet, Ambegaon, Punawale, Bibwewadi, Ahmednagar road,
Mohammadwadi, Teen Hatti chowk, Ramwadi and Narhe.
The MNGL is also in talks with municipal corporations of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad to provide
adequate space for setting up the stations. The company is also looking to provide refilling points at all
the depots of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited Presently only two depots supply CNG.
“We are putting maximum effort to open stations at identified locations. However, availability of space
has been the biggest challenge. Hence, we have approached Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic bodies
and the district administration for help in acquiring land,” an MNGL official said.