Indian trucking will drive into gas age with 50 LNG stations

NEW DELHI: Indian trucking will drive into the gas age with 50 LNG (liquefied natural gas) filling stations along the Golden Quadrilateral, setting the stage for a green makeover of the smoke-spewing long-haul goods transport fleet.
The number of LNG stations will be expanded to 1,000 in three years to make the clean-burning fuel accessible, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday after unveiling the foundations of these stations to be built by state-run fuel retailers.
This will make the Indian transport sector the latest entrant — after a handful of nations led by the US and China — to the LNG covenant. For the world’s third-largest oil consumer, where the transport sector guzzles 40% of diesel sold, the environmental benefit from LNG is immense: there is no sulphur dioxide emission and nitrogenous emissions are reduced by 85%.
“Even if the LNG vehicle segment achieves 10% market share, it will have a positive impact on reducing emissions and substituting crude. LNG as a heavy vehicle fuel can also generate new gas demand, which will be significant in increasing the share of natural gas to 15% (from 6% at present) in our energy mix,” Pradhan said.