Scooters and motorcycles that run on non-polluting natural gas could be on India’s roads one day, if a pilot project involving 10 such two-wheelers launched proves successful. The 10 two-wheelers retrofitted with compressed natural gas (CNG) systems are the first of 50 such vehicles which will be released in Delhi within a month. Emissions and efficiency of these vehicles will be closely monitored. Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched the pilot in the national capital.

Adopting CNG is one of the ways that could help bring down air pollution in the country, where around seven out of 10 vehicles are two-wheelers that use petrol. Widespread adoption of CNG as a fuel for two wheelers will also open a new market for companies such as Gail India. 

As per idle emission tests, hydrocarbon emissions from CNG retrofitted two wheelers are 75% less and carbon dioxide emissions are 20% less than similar petrol-driven vehicles. The CNG kit consists of two cylinders with a capacity of 1 kg each. These scooters can go up to 120 km with a single fill and are expected to be more economical than similar vehicles using petrol.

After Delhi, the pilot project will be extended to other cities like Pune and Bangalore. At present, Delhi has around 5 lakh CNG-run private cars and around 3 lakh CNG-run commercial vehicles.