India Allows LNG to be Used as Transport Fuel

India has allowed LNG to be used as transport fuel nationwide, the country’s road, transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari told journalists March 15 in New Delhi. The minister added that fuel stations will soon start appearing across the country.

"We have given approval to LNG as an automobile fuel and now its standards would be defined by different ministries including the petroleum [ministry]," Gadkari said, Press Trust of India reported. The ministry also entered into a pact with Petronet LNG in this regard.

India’s first LNG-fuelled bus was launched November 8 by country’s oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the southern Indian city of Kochi. Petronet LNG, Indian Oil Corporation and automotive major Tata Motors have worked to introduce LNG as a fuel in commercial vehicles in the capital of the southern state of Kerala.

India is also working on promoting LNG as marine fuel for ships using India’s waterways. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Petronet LNG last year signed MoU for providing an LNG based mode of transport on national waterways. Both the options of switching over from the existing diesel to LNG barges and introduction of new LNG barges are being considered. Petronet LNG Limited will design, construct and operate LNG unloading, storage, bunkering and reloading facilities on the national waterways.

Shardul Sharma