Fuelling the future: Can CNG buses address city’s transport demands?

Following the Shakti scheme's statewide implementation on June 11, calls to expand Bengaluru’s bus fleet have got stronger. Simultaneously, the idea of wider EV integration is also gathering traction. Transportation experts, however, are seeking from the government a more environmentally viable approach that also makes economic sense.

At present, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) operates around 6,700 buses; the number has been fluctuating around 6,000 for at least ten years now. Of these, only about 5,500 buses run in the city. Bus commuter forums and mobility experts have called for at least a doubling of the number to meet the demands of the city’s estimated 1.3-crore population. The BMTC, however, claims that there is no shortage of buses.

A senior BMTC official told DH that a total of 2,011 buses, including 921 electric, 840 diesel and a few hundred minibuses, will be added this year. Aiming to make a complete switch from diesel to electric by 2030, the BMTC, which already runs 390 electric buses in the city has also submitted a proposal to the union government to procure an additional 1,000 e-buses under the National Electric Bus Programme.

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Currently, the BMTC operates e-buses under a GCC (gross cost contract) model which reduces its cost of operations.

Although the state action plan pushes for the increase in electric vehicles citing environmental benefits, the move is also seen as impractical by some of the experts. E-buses are fitted with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries which are manufactured using imported lithium-ion cells, making them a costly option. As of April 2023, of the total electricity generated in the country (140.19 billion units), 111.40 BU are generated via thermal power. These thermal power plants are coal-fired, which cancels out the "zero-emission clean energy" that the environment-friendly e-buses are aiming to adopt.

Ultimately, the mounting costs of procuring e-buses will fall on the government and the public, especially because the running cost of an e-bus is around Rs 51 per km even with all subsidies. It would also require several thousand crores rupees worth of infrastructure development over the next decade.

“The functioning of e-buses running in the city needs to be studied first, to understand if they are suitable for all road conditions, if they are cost-effective and if they are actually bringing in the environmental benefits,” a bus activist said.

Pushback for alternatives

Sources familiar with the developments said BMTC was pushing back against the adoption of cost-effective, environmentally sustainable alternatives as it would effectively restrict fuel pilferage that vested interests profit from. They proposed CNG buses as an alternative, for which a gas pipeline network worth Rs 6,700 crore is already in place in the state.

CNG vehicles emit less particulate matter, thus proving to be better for the environment. Alternate fuels like CNG will also save State Transport Undertakings (STUs) from losses due to pilferage and will substantially cut down fuel costs, they argued.

Added to this, the cost of procuring a CNG bus stands at Rs 40 lakh each while the cost of an e-bus is anywhere between Rs 1.6 crore and Rs 1.9 crore. CNG buses also run at almost half the cost of an e-bus.

Currently, there are three CNG stations lying unused since 2018 – inside the three BMTC depots in Peenya, Sumanahalli and Hennur – due to a delay in the introduction of CNG buses despite Government directives. Karnataka has a total of 262 CNG stations accessible to the public, 78 of which are in the city.

The Government of India has also set a target for increasing usage of natural gas across sectors in the country from 6.2% to 15%, by 2030.

The existing infrastructure enables transport corporations to adopt CNG-fuelled buses over electric buses. CNG buses have been running on low operational costs in cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.

To compensate for the bus procurement costs, CNG companies in Karnataka have also offered to bear additional costs for 200 buses. However, the BMTC is not keen on considering CNG buses due to their “high maintenance cost, high breakdown rates, and lack of CNG infrastructure,” said a senior official.

It remains to be seen if the government will weigh in on the STUs including BMTC to consider the introduction of CNG buses.