[9thsphinx]

I couldn't find a better place to post this - Mods please move to a relevant thread, if any.

The plight of CNG in Gujarat (June 2013)

Here are some facts:

Imagine CNG at 68.50/kg which is just a meager 2 Rs lower than what petrol sells here.

The truth is over 90% of the CNG retrofitters and/or kit manufacturers as of date are dreading business closures in the state because of the CNG prices as of today in Gujarat. Their daily work reduced to over 90% as well. Imagine a retrofitter having over 10 cars/day for fitment of CNG kits. That has gone down to 1 car/week.

HP CNG (supplier of CNG) which was Adani's immediate competitor has already shut shop. All major automobile manufacturers who have a CNG version of their best selling models have reported more than 80% decline in their CNG equipped variants.

News Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/18...cng-car-demand

People who have fitted kits in ther cars are going back to retrofitters asking them to remove and/or buyback the kits for whatever price they can.

The State Government is blaming the centre and vice-versa. In the end it's the businesses and end users that are being affected. It's a complete disaster of an industry that was quite lucrative a few years back but because of poor political decisions is now on the verge of massive shutdowns.

CNG Prices now double than Mumbai - Considering Gujarat has the maximum number of CNG stations in the country, this bit of news is absolutely ridiculous.

News Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/18...-than-mumbai-s

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx

I couldn't find a better place to post this - Mods please move to a relevant thread, if any.

The plight of CNG in Gujarat (June 2013)

Here are some facts:

Imagine CNG at 68.50/kg which is just a meager 2 Rs lower than what petrol sells here.

The truth is over 90% of the CNG retrofitters and/or kit manufacturers as of date are dreading business closures in the state because of the CNG prices as of today in Gujarat. Their daily work reduced to over 90% as well. Imagine a retrofitter having over 10 cars/day for fitment of CNG kits. That has gone down to 1 car/week.

HP CNG (supplier of CNG) which was Adani's immediate competitor has already shut shop. All major automobile manufacturers who have a CNG version of their best selling models have reported more than 80% decline in their CNG equipped variants.

News Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/18...cng-car-demand

People who have fitted kits in ther cars are going back to retrofitters asking them to remove and/or buyback the kits for whatever price they can.

The State Government is blaming the centre and vice-versa. In the end it's the businesses and end users that are being affected. It's a complete disaster of an industry that was quite lucrative a few years back but because of poor political decisions is now on the verge of massive shutdowns.

CNG Prices now double than Mumbai - Considering Gujarat has the maximum number of CNG stations in the country, this bit of news is absolutely ridiculous.

News Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/18...-than-mumbai-s

It sure hurts to see the ever growing price of CNG - long back when I went ahead with CNG kit, it was priced at approx 18/KG, and now it's at 42/KG ..

What can one do except

[CARDEEP]

IMO, it not the Governments, but the company officials which are to be blamed for undue increase in CNG prices all over India. Some time back there was a case on Delhi court re astronomical transportation charges of CNG to various CNG stations, & court opined that those were illegitimate, but, nothing could be done as there was no authority (like there used to be one for Petroleum prices & the companies) to control CNG pricing.

Gujarat seems an exceptional case, with CNG prices as high as CM Modi's recent claims.

[saurabhkum]

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx

I couldn't find a better place to post this - Mods please move to a relevant thread, if any.

The plight of CNG in Gujarat (June 2013)

Here are some facts:

Imagine CNG at 68.50/kg which is just a meager 2 Rs lower than what petrol sells here.

The State Government is blaming the centre and vice-versa. In the end it's the businesses and end users that are being affected. It's a complete disaster of an industry that was quite lucrative a few years back but because of poor political decisions is now on the verge of massive shutdowns.

CNG Prices now double than Mumbai - Considering Gujarat has the maximum number of CNG stations in the country, this bit of news is absolutely ridiculous.

News Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/18...-than-mumbai-s

If I'm not wrong Gujarat has passed a decision of converting all existing vehicles into CNG. I can't understand what is the central Govt role in pricing of CNG, here in Mumbai prices are 33.95 and in Delhi I believe prices are close to 42 which means that pricing is as per the state government rules. Or is it that few States have subsidized the CNG pricing due to CNG being clean fuel? May be being Pvt Players being involved in supply of CNG in Gujarat has resulted in this . My question is that who supplies CNG to states? This will have the relevant answers of differential pricing across states.

[Ricky_3007]

CNG at the rate of Rs.68.50 per KG . If this happens in Maharashtra then I will remove my company fitted CNG kit and run my car on Petrol rather which is Rs.74/lt.

Here in Pune it is Rs.43/kg. I spoke to one of MNGL (Co who provides CNG in Maharashtra) Pump guy , he told me that the purchase of CNG from company is very low rate @Rs.7/kg but the cost of the pump and transportation makes them sell it to Rs.43/kg .

How come a state like Gujrat who is pioneer in lot of New / Green Initiatives or equipped with great infrastructure can do this?

Are there any efforts being put in to reduce the prices?

Regards,

[9thsphinx]

Sure, the decision to convert all cars to CNG was passed in Gujarat but it was never meant to be implemented because it was basically senseless. Such a massive number of cars (not including premium cars and exotics) to be fitted with a CNG kit was not gelling well with the public to being with. So that decision wasn't really implemented after all.

There is a single private player (Adani CNG) and another HP owned GSPC (which as I mentioned has now shut down) which regulate the prices in tune to what kind of subsidy the Government provides them. At one point of time, not too long back when the gas prices were in the range of ~50/kg, the prices for Adani CNG and GSPC were equal. Then once it crossed the 55 mark there was a slight difference of around 2 rupees between the two - Adani being higher.

When the prices crossed the 60 mark GSPC shut shops and Adani being the sole distributor started charging rates as it liked. Many-a-times Auto/Rickshaw union went on strikes to bring down the prices - price comes down a rupee - increases three the next month. No avail.

There is a dedicated community for CNG retrofitters, part manufacturers and installers (which includes the Auto union) in Ahmedabad, which then organized meetings with important leaders in this industry but no good seemed to come out of it. Talks are still on, but the entire union has little hopes that this industry will revive after all - more so, the prices of CNG coming down which is very important if this industry really wants to survive. However, there are full chances that with the dollar gaining strength and the rupee falling to its lowest lows, petrol prices will increase and simultaneously CNG prices will also increase along with it. Adani CNG may just well be the first ones to implement higher prices for CNG as soon as petrol prices go up - as it has in the past.

The Government seems to lend a deaf ear to this critical situation and/or devise an immediate strategy or means to stop the CNG prices in Gujarat go haywire.

I am not aware of the intricacies or haven't gone into the nitty gritty of this problem and how it is being tackled by the higher echelons in the industry, but from the looks of it and from what I hear from reliable sources, the entire CNG industry, here in Gujarat, will be as good as dead by 2014.

[Max]

Last week I traveled to daman and refilled CNG at Tanu Motors GSPC pump in VAPI @ about Rs.62/- per liter. This pump is located on NH8 highway bellow flyover in VAPI. There was no queues but pump was busy. I liked GSPC filling pump, it was much faster then mahanagar pump in mumbai.

I think the reason why CNG is cheaper in mumbai is because its produced and supplied from BOMBAYHIGH and there are gas pipelines all around mumbai which makes supplying CNG very cheap. I don't think prices are going to skyrocket any time sooner in mumbai, however I have seen increase in waiting time in CNG Pump in last few days!

[HimuraKenshin]

So guys,
I have been reading your posts, and i came accross a fes posts that said "Check engine light staying on is normal" after CNG installation.
This is complete rubbish.
If the installed has not installed the kit correctly, only then will the CEL light glow.
I had a advanced closed loop kit installed in my swift.
After installation i saw that the CEL was on constantly. So i hooked up my OBDII scanner and saw that the MAP sensor was giving a reading of 0 when in gas, if i ran it on petrol, the MAP sensor was giving correct values. Checked the wiring and there was an error. (They splice into a few sensors for the advanced closed loop kit, namely MAP, IAC, O2 etc)
After the wiring was rectified, there has been no CEL light, and the values from the MAP are correct.
Please do not listen to the garage guys who say that the light will stay on. You have paid your hard earned money, and it is your right to get a satisfactory result.

[Max]

Looks like CNG price may go up substantially in future as government has cleared 100% hike for CNG prices in 2014. Read more here on economic times web site.

Power, CNG to get costlier as 100% hike in gas price cleared

Originally Posted by HimuraKenshin

This is complete rubbish.
I had a advanced closed loop kit installed in my swift.

Is this also true for open loop kits?

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by Max

Looks like CNG price may go up substantially in future as government has cleared 100% hike for CNG prices in 2014. Read more here on economic times web site.

Power, CNG to get costlier as 100% hike in gas price cleared



Is this also true for open loop kits?

I doubt if this would go through, as 2014 being an election year. But again, can you believe our great politicians ?

[yuv]

The way CNG prices have been increasing regularly(more than double now even in Mumbai from not too many years ago), im sure we have not seen the last of it. Whats happening in Gujarat defies logic and a perfect example of corrupt government and their flawed policies - Benefiting the corporates at the cost of common man. Mumbai, Delhi or any other city or state cant be completely isolated from it, lets just hope its later and not sooner.

Unfortunately CNG car owners are the least of the politicians concerns in this age of vote bank politics therefore I doubt that the elections around the corner would be a major deterrent for further increases. Taxi/Automen could care less as long as they get to increase their fares. And then there is the petrol lobby.

[9thsphinx]

A while back I gave a quick overview on the CNG industry in Gujarat and how it was heading towards an unforeseen future.

For whoever wants to know more, here's Forbes India's take on the Indian Gas industry as a whole (This article doesn't necessarily talk about CNG in particular, but it's an overview of the entire industry)

http://forbesindia.com/article/real-...alloon/35717/1

[HimuraKenshin]

Originally Posted by Max

Is this also true for open loop kits?

Yes, if installed correctly, no CEL should glow...

[StrangeWizard]

I just converted my car to CNG. Now after driving 100 kms the fuel indicator is still showing 1 light and then the reserve light will come.

Since I'm heading for a long drive tomorrow I've decided to fill up the tank before heading out so I wanted to know how to calculate the running cost?
Should I just see how much gas goes in and then multiply it by the cost of CNG and divide that by 100 (kms driven) ?

[saurabhkum]

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

I just converted my car to CNG. Now after driving 100 kms the fuel indicator is still showing 1 light and then the reserve light will come.

Since I'm heading for a long drive tomorrow I've decided to fill up the tank before heading out so I wanted to know how to calculate the running cost?
Should I just see how much gas goes in and then multiply it by the cost of CNG and divide that by 100 (kms driven) ?

For filling CNG, pressure at the pump is the most important aspect. In Mumbai most pumps normally have pressure of 190-200 while some pumps even have pressure of 230. The capacity of the tank is based on pressure of 250 so when the pressure is 200 you should get 80% of the tank capacity to be filled. For calculating avg the last 3 fills should be used to get a more realistic picture of FE.