Seeking to make the total cost of owning a motorcycle more affordable, Bajaj Auto launched the Freedom 125-the world's first CNG motorcycle on July 5. TVS Motor, India's third largest two-wheeler maker by volume, is also planning to launch its first CNG scooter in February 2025. Boosted by the fast-expanding network, CNG has already made deep inroads in other segments of the automobile market. Six out of every ten three-wheelers sold by Bajaj Auto-which commands 80% of the market, is powered by CNG. One-third of cars sold in the domestic are CNG-powered.
City gas company officials said they plan to install new dispensers at their CNG outlets and expect a handsome volume growth in the future. "We are seeing a promising development in the two-wheeler market...So with this, we expect that this trend is going to have a significant increase in the CNG sales in the future," said Mohit Bhatia, Director, Commercial, Indraprastha Gas, adding that IGL will be putting up the infrastructure for the two-wheeler segment.
"India's two-wheeler segment sees an addition of 17-18 million in the country. Of this, 95% is petrol variant. The cost-benefit analysis for CNG versus petrol is 50%. Two-wheeler for petrol is around INR 2-2.25 per km and for CNG, it is around 0.80-95 paise per km. Also, Delhi has the lowest CNG rate pan India. So, we look forward to CNG two-wheelers as a good opportunity," Bhatia said.
IGL sells CNG and piped natural gas (PNG) in Delhi, Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, and Rewari among other geographical areas. The company generates 75% of its sales volume from CNG sales and operates 882 CNG stations across geographies. This fiscal it plans to commission around 90 CNG stations.
Mumbai-based Mahanagar Gas also expects the segment to add to its volume growth.
"It has opened up a new set of customers for CGD companies, and MGL sees it as another volume growth opportunity considering the large number of two-wheelers in the country. And we are gearing up to cater to this segment," said Ashu Singhal, MD, Mahanagar Gas, on an investor call last week.
Currently, MGL has around 350 fuel stations and its subsidiary Unison Enviro has around 50. The company plans to add another 80 to 90 stations this fiscal. The company Singhal added is trying to work out how to address this additional business segment. "As of now, we think wherever the space is available, we can allocate one dedicated dispenser for filling up these two-wheelers."
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