HYDERABAD: As many as 18 biodiesel buses, operated by Greater Hyderabad zone of State Road Transport Corporation, are currently being run on conventional diesel owing to non-availability of biodiesel. This is causing the cash-strapped TSRTC a loss of around Rs 5 lakh a day or Rs 1.50 crore a month. The supply of biodiesel was stopped nearly a year ago. Biodiesel costs Rs 3.50 a litre less than the conventional petroleum diesel.
“Southern Bio-diesel Limited at Narayanpur near Choutuppal has stopped the supply of biodiesel to 15 RTC depots in the Greater Hyderabad Zone without citing any reason,” said a senior RTC official. As a consequence, all those buses which ran on biofuel now depend purely on the conventional diesel. If the conventional diesel costs Rs 61.75 a litre, biodiesel costs anywhere between Rs 58 and Rs 58.50, the official said.
The corporation was using B10, a blended form of biodiesel (10 percent biodiesel, 90 per cent petroleum diesel) and Hyderabad-II depot, from which most city buses are operated, was using B20 (20 per cent biodiesel, 80 percent petroleum diesel). “The corporation started using diesel with ultra-low sulphur content and substitute fuels like compressed natural gas (CNG) and biodiesel on a large scale to reduce pollution caused by TSRTC vehicles,” official said.
Every day, the 3,800-odd buses in the Greater Hyderabad zone consume at least 2.5 lakh litres of conventional diesel. According to sources, a few Bengaluru- bound buses in Rangareddy region are operated on biofuel. “There are at least 14 buses in the Rangareddy region that are run on biodiesel,” he said.
Despite the short supply, the corporation plans to suitably convert more buses to make them run on bio-diesel. The corporation is also taking measures to use B100 (100 percent biodiesel) in all its vehicles. As a pilot experiment, the TSRTC is procuring two new buses, which will run completely on biodiesel, from Scania Automotive Industry of Sweden.