Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways said, that public transport may be modernised which is based on biofuels, CNG and electricity as fuel. Addressing a Webinar – 4th UITP India Bus Seminar he said most of the State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) are incurring huge expenditure on conventional fuels which are expensive. He called for moving on to biofuels, CNG and Electricity as transportation fuel. This will not only save on fuel bill but also contribute to economy and pollution reduction. At present the country is spending huge amounts on import of crude oil, which needs to be reduced.
Referring to workability of the use of biofuels, CNG etc, he informed that Nagpur has started to convert 450 buses on to biofuels. As many as 90 buses have already been converted so far. Loss in bus services is about Rs 60 crore per year, which can be saved by converting buses into CNG. He also informed that efforts are being made to produce CNG from sewage water and he called upon SRTUs to adopt this model for reducing losses which will help in providing better public transport. He further indicated at adopting other sources of CNG like paddy straw, which have multiple benefits to farmers, transport, environment and economy.
He called for adopting London Bus model harnessing utilisation of private capital for better public transport. Encouraging Public Private Partnership (PPP) may also be pursued. Bus Ports are being planned with all modern amenities. He suggested that adopting double-decker buses by the operators will also improve the efficiency of public transport. Bus operators may consider providing better services like good attendants, provision for entertainment tools like audio music, video films, etc which can fetch better returns.
