The CNG vehicular population in Mumbai metropolitan region has crossed the 1-million mark, with 50% vehicles being private cars running on the green fuel, latest transport statistics reveal.
Apart from private vehicle owners, a large number of public transport vehicles — autos, taxis, buses — across the region are on CNG. But their population, especially that of autos, has not risen as much as that of private cars. There are several car buyers who now opt for dual fuel which includes petrol and CNG.
In Greater Mumbai, 2023 was a good year for CNG vehicles as it witnessed the highest-ever registrations of 26,865 new vehicles — which is 74 new vehicles hitting the roads daily on an average. It was a rise of 15% in registrations as compared to the previous year. “We have been getting several calls for more CNG outlets as there is huge demand for vehicles in this segment, with several buses and aggregator cabs now retrofitting or purchasing new vehicles only on CNG. There are long queues at pumps daily,” said a CNG dealer from central Mumbai.
Transport expert Vivek Pai said that CNG was the only clean vehicle for Mumbai before electric vehicles were introduced, and it has been a common fuel for public transport such as autorickshaws and taxis, as well as a section of BEST buses. “The fuel gained popularity as its price in the past was nearly half of that of petrol and it provided better mileage. This USP was short-lived as prices soared high over the years and touched almost close to diesel prices in 2022,” he said.
The price of CNG had hit the roof at approximately INR 90 per kg in 2022, and this was a primary reason why auto and taxi fares were hiked for commuters during that year.
“The price of CNG subsequently dropped significantly in larger public interest in 2023 (by INR 14 per kg),” he said. In April last year, the CNG rate was cut by 9%-11% across the country after the Union government revised the formula for pricing of natural gas. This led to a huge drop in prices which reduced by INR 8 to retail at INR 79 per kg.
Subsequently in October last year, Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) reduced CNG rates further by INR 3 per kg, making it affordable fuel for new car buyers and existing owners of CNG vehicles. The drop in rates was instrumental in pushing up sales and registrations of new CNG vehicles, especially private cars. Besides, a significant number of postal vans, school buses, courier vans, light and heavy commercial vehicles run on CNG.
Some years back, an experiment to introduce CNG motorcycles did not make much headway, and the project was dropped after 20 such bikes were brought on the roads. In comparison, two wheelers have been more popular on electric due to faster adoption and being easy to charge at home (charging station in your building) besides low running and maintenance costs. “So, in the clean-fuel category, CNG now faces a direct threat from electric vehicles whose adoption is much faster in comparison,” a transport expert pointed out.
Sales of CNG cars were impacted during the Covid pandemic and had dropped by nearly 50% in 2020. In a year, there was recovery in sales and registrations later went up by 24% in Mumbai in 2022.
The registrations have always been maximum at Wadala RTO for five years in a row, indicating that more people from the eastern suburbs preferred CNG vehicles. In 2023, as many as 7,233 vehicles were registered in the eastern suburbs. This was followed by the Borivali RTO at 7,229 CNG vehicles.
