 "Viability hurdle for Rohtang CNG network plan")
The plan to host the world’s highest compressed natural gas (CNG) station at the 13,050-feet Rohtang Pass has hit a viability hurdle.
Consumers in the area will have to pay Rs 75-80 a kilo, more than double the price in Delhi, if they have to use CNG vehicles. The Himachal Pradesh government was forced to move ahead with the plan after a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order in 2015 banned the plying of diesel and petrol vehicles between Rohtang and the popular tourist destination of Manali, for environmental reasons.
Also, the NGT had restricted the number of vehicles entering the Rohtang area. Following the green bench order, up to 800 petrol and 400 diesel vehicles are reportedly permitted in a day.
According to sources, the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas will petition NGT on the cost-to-consumers issue. GAIL Gas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAIL (India), has done a viability study and says it will have to carry CNG on trucks from the nearest pipeline, at least 250 km away at Nangal, Punjab.
“While the initial capital expenditure the state government expected for the project was around Rs 18 crore, it has zoomed to Rs 120 crore after the feasibility study. How can consumers afford Rs 75-80 a kilo?” asked an official.
The NGT order had cited a threat to glaciers from rising pollution. The GAIL Gas report says if the government and NGT want to proceed with the project, a compression station will be set up at Tahliwal and a CNG station at Una by GAIL, for which the state revenue department has already initiated land transfer formalities.
The company will have to incur an additional Rs 12-15 crore for setting up a mother station. The alternative considered by the state government is electric vehicles. These will have to be imported from Europe; there are no domestic manufacturers. The Himachal government conducted trial runs of hired CNG buses from Delhi Transport Corporation in July 2015 and that of electric vehicles in December last year, by joining hands with Mahindra & Mahindra.
STEP ON THE GAS
-
The GAIL Gas report says if the government and NGT want to proceed with the project, a compression station will be set up at Tahliwal and a CNG station at Una by GAIL
