NEW DELHI: Delhi and Mumbai became the country’s first cities to get mobile CNG filling service, a move that will spare consumers from standing in long queues at gas stations for refuelling by making the clean-burning fuel available at their doorstep and expand access in areas with a scanty number of stations.
Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched the service at an online event where he also dedicated to the nation 201 CNG stations countrywide, including 54 set up by Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) across Delhi, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan.
IGL designed the mobile refuelling units for Delhi-NCR and Mahanagar Gas Ltd for Mumbai, with Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation as the co-developer for both.
Each mobile refuelling unit carries 1,500 kg of CNG and can refuel 100-150 vehicles at an average of 10 kg each, company executives said.
In Delhi, the service has been kicked off with deployment of one unit in Vasant Kunj area, which has a paucity of CNG stations.
The number of mobile dispensers will be ramped up gradually.
Pradhan said the future of fuel retail lay in mobile dispensing and advised IGL to target shopping malls, office complexes and housing societies so that CNG car owners or taxi operators can refuel without having to waste time and fuel in visiting a filling station.
IGL director (commercial) Amit Garg said mobile dispensing service will enhance customer experience by bringing CNG at the doorstep of consumers and expand coverage in areas where the number of CNG stations are low or non-existent due to land issues.
Among IGL’s new CNG stations, 21 are in Delhi, six each in Ghaziabad and Gurugram, four each in Karnal and Kanpur, three each in Kaithal and Rewari, two each in Meerut, Noida and Hapur as well as one in Ajmer.