By Ruma Dubey

Abhijeet is a new generation entrepreneur and has his own start-up at Mumbai. His small fledgling unit is yet to find its feet. Two years ago, he bought a Maruti Wagon R. Though the cost of petrol was high then too, it was not at the levels which we are seeing currently.  Today, every time he goes for a full tank, he has to shell out around Rs.2700. This expense is eating away whatever little he is managing to earn and save. And now, he has decided to go for a conversion kit, fitting a CNG fuel tank.

This is not just an isolated case of Abhijeet; there are scores of people who are looking at the CNG option. Going ahead, once the world economies start picking up, oil prices will only go up further and the story of our falling rupee is another big sob story. Thus all indications are that prices of petrol will only increase. Diesel prices are also up, yet it remains around Rs.20-15/litre cheaper than petrol. Diesel is still a cheaper option than petrol but that too, with time is expected to increase; the gap between the two could lessen with time.  And that is why many are looking at going for a conversion kit – converting the existing petrol cars into CNG.

CNG or Compressed Natural Gas is slowly emerging as the most preferred fuel. It is environmentally friendly, causing lesser pollution. More importantly, it costs around 65-68% lesser than petrol. On 1^st July, CNG prices in Mumbai were hiked by Rs.2/kilo and currently costs Rs.36/kilo compared to Rs.76/litre of petrol.

So if you have a petrol or diesel engine, it can be converted into CNG. When you fit in a CNG kit and start the ignition, the car will first run on petrol/diesel for the first one or two kms and then it shifts to CNG.

You need go to an RTO approved dealer and there are a wide variety of Italian, Indian and Argentina made CNG conversion kits available.  The kit which you install should also be Govt approved.  And it is best to get it approved from authorized car dealers; most of them now offer conversion kits. Dealers say that ‘sequential’ kits are the best and currently, Italian brands rule the roost.

The cost is around Rs.35,000 to Rs.55,000 for the conversion. If one calculates that savings which can be made over the long run, then within a year, you can recover your cost. And this conversion is recommended for only those who travel an average of over 30-50/kms per day.  CNG’s cost per km is around Rs 2.65/km compared to around Rs7.65/km for petrol and the usage of CNG does not cut the life or the performance of the engine.

The most important question – kitna deti hai? The mileage is comparable with diesel and petrol and depends on the brand of conversion kit and the car which you own. Thus in terms of mileage too, it is a win-win situation.

Many are dissuaded from CNG as they feel they might have to wait in long queues, along with taxi and autowallahs for filling the cylinder. Well, many CNG stations have come up; in fact many conventional fuel pumps themselves now have CNG filling pumps.  And as time goes by, it would be a common sight to see most petrol pumps having CNG filling facilities too. Dealers across Mumbai say that there are getting almost 50-60 enquiries per day on this conversion post the recent petrol price hike.

On the flip side, the kit will take up the place of your luggage and is heavy too. And it is an inflammable fuel and one needs to be careful. It is not like LPG where cars just catch fire when running, yet one should be extra cautious. Well, that’s true even when you drive a petrol or diesel car!

PS: Auto sales, month after month, have consistently been going down. Inventories at car companies and with dealers have been piling up, with most companies, be it two wheelers or four wheelers, showing an average inventory of around 6-8 weeks. Maruti has cut down production to match demand and also laid off contract labourers. Others might follow suit. It is all being blamed , very easily on the high interest rates. But is that all? Really, could high interest rates alone cut down demand to this extent? It is a multitude of reasons and high interest rate is just one of them. Most important is the rising price of fuel. Given the consistent price hikes, people are indeed rethinking about their decision to own a car. Those with cars are rethinking about having a second car. And other costs, mainly food and other day-to-day expenses have gone up so much that it leaves very little for a new car. Thus it has become a question of affordability, of the day-to-day running of the car and not about the cost of buying the car…that is eating away demand and piling up inventory; not the high EMIs alone.