A plan to operate buses running on compressed natural gas (CNG) as part of the ongoing Kochi metro rail project is on the anvil.
The project could open up a new avenue in the application of natural gas, providing a silver lining in the capacity utilisation of the LNG terminal in Kochi. LNG was made available in the State two years ago, but the former government failed to make optimum use of the gas in the power and automotive segments.
Buying CNG vehicles for the KSRTC was part of a plan to introduce natural gas in the State, which could not take off due to various reasons, including paucity of funds. The CNG project could be expanded with the inclusion of the public and private transport system in the network. Infrastructure such as CNG filling stations would have to be set up for the purpose.
Talks have been initiated at various levels to achieve the goal, sources in the industry said.
The Adani group, which is involved in the city gas project in Kochi, could supply CNG to the buses to be operated in Kochi. GAIL India will be associated with the project as it is entrusted with the task of laying of LNG pipelines in the State. Efforts are also on to make use of natural gas at power generation plants which are currently utilising naphtha, the sources said.
The new government is keen on taking natural gas to the industrial sector. The LDF had promised in the Assembly election manifesto to complete the LNG pipeline. Laying of pipelines which had been disrupted due to opposition from people in certain areas could resume soon.
Petronet LNG had to lease out part of the storage capacity at the terminal at Puthuvype in Kochi to multinational companies engaged in LNG trade as it could not get adequate number of bulk consumers within or outside the State.
The situation was obviously a failure on the part of the authorities to make use of gas availability, despite its eco-friendly credentials. It could change for the better if the new plans succeed, the sources said.
Plan to operate buses running on compressed natural gas
Government keen on taking natural gas to industrial sector
