Government allows retrofitment of CNG kit to replace diesel engines in BS-VI vehicles

NEW DELHI: Paving the way for retrofitment of CNG kits in the BS-VI diesel vehicles and replacement of diesel engines with CNG ones for cars, SUVs and small cargo vehicles, the road transport ministry has notified the standards for their type approval and emission norms. These norms are applicable for all vehicles that have gross vehicle weight (GVW) of less than 3.5 tonnes.
The GVW is the weight of the empty vehicle and the weight of the maximum payload that the vehicle is designed to carry.
Though this move was expected to get good traction when it was proposed in January this year considering the prevailing price gap between diesel and CNG at that time, now there are less chances of this finding many takers as the CNG prices have increased dramatically in the past 5-6 months. The CNG prices have almost doubled in most of the cities in the past one year and across several cities the current price of CNG is more than what a litre of diesel costs.