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Reduction in auto LPG price leads to 16% jump in sales in 3 months
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Auto LPG is 50 per cent cheaper than petrol, better than CNG
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Study says Auto LPG is solution to air pollution in cities
Delhi (NCR), 19th January, 2017: There has been a 16% jump in the sales of auto LPG since October 2016 for the month ending December in the country, apparently because of the reduction in its prices recently. The development is seen as a good news because auto LPG is a cleaner fuel and it helps in reducing air pollution significantly.
According to Mr Suyash Gupta, Director General of the Indian Auto LPG Coalition (IAC), leading oil companies such as Indian Oil, HPCL, and BPCL have, since October 2016, reduced the auto LPG price to make it cost about 50 per cent lesser than petrol leading to 16 per cent jump in its sales during October 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016.
“Auto LPG is a low hanging fruit and government must make use of this to make a tangible effect on air quality almost immediately. Most other cleaner fuels are still at a drawing board stage. This reduction of price led by the oil companies means that Auto LPG now costs about 50% of the price of Petrol, making it even cheaper than Diesel.” said Mr Gupta.
IAC is the nodal body for the promotion of Auto LPG in India and its members include major oil sector PSUs such as Indian Oil Corporation, private auto LPG marketers such as Total, Aegis, SHV, Reliance and others together with kit suppliers and equipment manufacturers.
Out of the 1100 auto LPG filling outlets in 500 cities across India, more than 50% are owned by the public sector companies Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL while the rest are operated by private players. Uttar Pradesh is one of the most prominent states with auto LPG penetration. There are 19 auto LPG stations in Delhi (NCR).
A recent study conducted by Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA) says auto LPG can cheaply and quickly replace diesel and petrol in transportacross the country as the fuel can be transported by tankers and sold through existing filling stations, unlike CNG that requires the laying of pipelines, which takes several years.
Moreover, auto LPG fuel tanks are compact and lighter than CNG and can be easily integrated in the car without much loss of trunk space. Also, refuelling time for auto LPG is similar to other conventional (petrol & diesel) fuels unlike CNG, which takes much more time to refill primarily because of the very high pressures CNG operates at. Thus creating long queues and a very high, wasteful, waiting time at CNG stations.
According to President IAC andExecutive Director of Indian Oil Corporation Mr Y.K.Gupta,“Auto LPG’s operating expenses are upto 50% lower than petrol, and cost of LPG vehicles – both factory fitted or Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and retro-fit is also lower than that of CNG.”
Mr Suyash Gupta said retrofitting an LPG car would cost just about Rs 20,000 compared to Rs 30,000 for a CNG car, and an LPG kit for a bike would come for Rs 7,000 while it would be about Rs 13,000 for a CNG bike.
The study says that, “The most significant contribution of auto LPG is to improving air quality – it has 22% lower CO2 than petrol, 96 % lesser NOx than diesel & 68% lesser than petrol, and 120 times lower PM emission than diesel. More than 26 million vehicles run on Auto LPG globally in more than 70 countries, and therefore auto LPG has become the third largest selling fuel in the world, after petrol and diesel.”
According to Mr Rajiv Chohan, Vice President of IAC, “ With effects of Global Warming so apparent now, moving to cleaner fuels is not a choice anymore. Auto LPG is clean, efficient, easy to handle and offers significant economic benefits.”
The study says that one can be assured of continuous availability of Auto LPG for the Indian subcontinent at very low, compelling prices in the foreseeable future as global LPG production was growing faster than demand (10 mMT in excess; 2015).
About IAC:
Indian Auto LPG Coalition (IAC) is the nodal body for the promotion of Auto LPG in India. Members of the Coalition include the Oil Sector PSUs, Private Auto LPG marketers, Kit Suppliers and Equipment manufacturers. The Coalition works very closely with the World LPG Association, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Automotive Research Association of India and International Center for Automotive Technology (iCAT).
IAC is also a member of “Central Motor Vehicle Rules – Technical Standing Committee” (CMVR-TSC) & “Standing Committee on Emission Legislation” (SCOE), TED26 (Bureau of Indian Standards), Government of India.
