A first-of-its-kind intercity awareness drive to popularise CNG as a clean fuel in India for vehicles was flagged off by the Hon. Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri. Murli Deora today. The “NGV India 2010 CNG Eco Drive†comprised a fleet of 40 CNG vehicles, which traveled from Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai via Panvel to Chinchwad in Pune. Shri. Gurudas Kamat, Minister of State for Information Technology and Communications, Shri. Sanjay Nirupam, Member of Parliament, Mumbai North, Smt Priya Dutt, Member of Parliament, Mumbai, North-Central, Amin Patel, Member of the Legislative Assembly from Mumbadevi, Shri Naseem Khan Member of the Legislative Assembly from Chandivali, Shri Kripa Shankar Singh, state Congress president, Shri B C Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director GAIL (India) Limited, Shri Prabhat Singh, Director Marketing GAIL, Shri V C Chittoda, Managing Director, Mahanagar Gas Limited and Shri M Ravindran, CEO Gail Gas Ltd also graced the occasion at the flag-off ceremony today.
Flagging off the drive, Shri Deora said, “CNG is becoming a preferred option as vehicular fuel in metro cities. In Mumbai, the popularity of piped natural gas is gaining momentum and I am confident that very soon the entire length and breadth of the city will be covered with network of piped natural gas as cooking fuel. Like Delhi, the positive impact of adopting CNG for vehicles has yielded excellent results in containing pollution. It is our endeavour to make CNG available across India.â€
This Eco Drive is expected to further popularize the use of CNG as a transport fuel in cities and also help to promote its usage along the highway. The CNG Eco Drive is a precursor to the NGV 2010 Conference and Exhibition to be held in Mumbai from 24 to 26 November 2010. NGV is the world’s largest Exhibition and Conference and NGV India 2010 in Mumbai is expected to be the biggest among these. Mr BC Tripathi, CMD, GAIL India Ltd welcomed the dignitaries and elaborated on the benefits of replacing conventional fuels with natural gas to protect the environment.
