New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS): Aiming to promote alternative fuels, the Centre said that BS-VI cars would now be able to retrofit CNG or LPG kits.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified regarding retrofitting CNG and LPG kits in BS-VI gasoline vehicles and replacement of diesel engines with CNG/LPG engines in case of BS-VI vehicles weighing less than 3.5 tonnes.

As of now, retrofitting CNG and LPG kits is permissible in motor vehicles complying with BS-IV emission norms.

The rule says that diesel vehicles that weigh less than 3.5 tonnes could be fitted with engines that run on CNG or LPG.

The initiative is aimed at reducing air pollution. However, while the new rule will allow more vehicle owners to retrofit CNG kits, the issue of easy availability of CNG remains a concern among the users. Despite a substantial rise in CNG stations in many cities, long queues of vehicles at many CNG filling stations is a common sight.

The government is promoting alternative fuels such as CNG, biofuels, LNG, electric charging etc. to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

As per government data, the number of CNG stations established by various authorised entities increased from 938 in 2014 to 4,531 in May 2022.

Moreover, the international market has seen a significant increase in prices of natural gas over the short and medium term, impacting domestic gas prices in India. This, in turn, has impacted the prices of CNG which is manufactured by compression of natural gas.