HYDERABAD: The State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) has proposed to add 30 more CNG buses to its fleet in the greater Hyderabad zone provided Bhagyanagar Gas Limited (BGL) ensures adequate fuel supply and Pollution Control Board (PCB) extends financial loans for the venture.
Though the cost-per-km is higher in the case of CNG buses compared to conventional ones, RTC currently has 131 such vehicles in its fleet. But now due to operational challenges, the RTC is looking up to the PCB for financial support to get more CNG vehicles.
In the past, BGL had assured of sufficient CNG supply based on which RTC purchased 133 buses. But BGL could not ensure sufficient supply, forcing the RTC to convert 30 of them into diesel buses, said a senior RTC official.It costs about `3 lakh to convert a diesel operated bus into a CNG one. Further, the cost of one kg of CNG is about `66 to `67, while a litre of diesel is only `61.75.