Pune first to fuel public transport with Bio-diesel, The Indian Express, Pune, June 18, 2006

Even as arguments continue over the fuel-price hike, there is reason for Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) to breathe easy. On the cards is the rollout of 105 buses run on bio-diesel. The project is to be implemented by July 1, and it is likely to save PMT Rs.1 crore monthly. At present, PMT spends Rs.4.5 crore a month on Diesel.

“This would make PMT the first transport body in the state to use bio-diesel on such a large scale. With Jatropha available in abundance in Maharashtra, we expect the prices to remain steady. We would end up saving around Rs.12 crore a year,” said PMT general manager Niranjan Kumar Sudhanshu. Already, PMT conducted a trial run of 10 buses on bio-diesel last month. After beginning with 105 buses next month, PMT plans to eventually run all its 850 buses on bio-diesel.

Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are the other states that have experimented with running public transport on bio-diesel. APSRTC conducted trial runs and its deputy chief mechanical engineer Arun Kumar said the “result of the experiment were positive.” It plans to conduct the experiment on a larger scale. Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) had flagged off some buses running on bio-diesel in March 2005. But they sputtered to a halt in a few months. GSRTC blamed irregular supply of bio-diesel, and switched back to ordinary diesel.

PMT will be buying bio-diesel at Rs.35 per litre from Garware Chemicals, Aurangabad and Shirke Biochemicals, Pune. Against that the cost of the diesel is Rs.40 per litre. The recent hike in diesel prices would have added Rs.50 lakh monthly to PMT’s fuel bill. But the gradual switch to bio-diesel could offset that.