By IANS,
New Delhi : Wiith the demand for compressed natural gas (CNG) going up after petrol and diesel prices skyrocketted, Delhi will soon set up 50 more CNG stations to avoid long queues of vehicles and also help keep the environment clean, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said Sunday.
After visiting a CNG station in south Delhi, Dikshit said her government would “facilitate commissioning of 50 new CNG stations in the capital city and would continue to strive hard to make Delhi a CNG capital to ensure clean air in Delhi”.
She said the average sale of CNG in the current month was around 1.2 million kg per day with peak sales touching 1.35 million kg a day.
The chief minister said the rising prices of “liquid fuels have given a tremendous boost to CNG conversion”. The cost of running a car on CNG is 73 percent economical as compared to petrol and 45 percent economical as compared to diesel, she explained.
Currently, there are 163 CNG filling stations in the capital, which supply fuel to nearly 225,000 vehicles.
The state government also said it will add 100 new CNG stations in the city before the 2010 Commonwealth Games to manage the growing demand.
Dikshit added that her government would ensure clean air, especially during the Commonwealth Games. It has taken a step further to switch light motor vehicles goods carriers to CNG.
According to a statement from the chief minister’s office, Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) that runs the CNG stations in Delhi is in talks with Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) “to allow utilization of their depots at six locations for multi-use”.