Green plans: Minister urges gas companies to increase CNG charging stations in Bengal

KOLKATA: State Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty on Tuesday urged the gas companies to increase the number of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) charging stations in the state. According to a source, the state currently has 124 stations.

Chakraborty held a meeting at Maidan Tent on Tuesday with the gas companies and other stakeholders, including pool car owners, bus owners and transport officials.

This was the first time a detailed meeting on CNG pumps took place.

The state government had time and again focused on the need for the usage of alternative fuel to help decrease pollution. According to a stakeholder in the meeting, the minister stated that not only will CNG help in the decrease of pollution but it will also be much more cost-efficient. The stakeholders have presented a deputation stating that conversion to CNG would only be possible if the number of CNG stations in the state increases. Currently, there are only a handful of them, the stakeholders claimed. In such a case, converting a vehicle to CNG would be time taking and costly.

In October 2021, the department had placed orders for manufacturing 50 CNG buses. Two long-distance dual fuel engine (CNG and Diesel) buses to find an alternative way and avoid suffering losses due to skyrocketing diesel prices in Kasba Transport Bhawan were inaugurated. The dual-engine South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) long-distance buses were run on a trial basis between Kolkata and Asansol for two weeks.