New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS): Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has called for adopting advanced public transport models, based on green energy such as biofuel, electricity and CNG.

Addressing a webinar on Monday he said that most of the State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) are incurring huge expenditure on conventional fuels which are expensive and called for moving over to biofuels, CNG and electricity as transportation fuel.

Such a move, he said will not only save on fuel bills but also contribute to the economy and pollution reduction. The minister said that at present the country is spending huge amounts on import of crude oil/hydrocarbons, which according to him needs to be reduced.

Referring to workability of the use of biofuels and other greener fuels, he informed that Nagpur has started to convert 450 buses into biofuel-run vehicles. As many as 90 buses have already been converted so far, he said.

According to an official statement, Gadkari added that loss in bus service is about Rs 60 crore per year, which can be saved by converting buses into CNG-driven models.

He said that efforts are being made to produce CNG from sewage water. He called upon SRTUs to adopt this model for reducing losses which will help in providing better public transport.

The Minister called for adopting the 'London Bus model' harnessing utilisation of private capital for better public transport. Noting that encouraging Public Private Partnership (PPP) may be pursued, Gadkari said that bus ports are being planned with all modern amenities.

He suggested that adopting double-decker buses by the operators will also improve the efficiency of public transport.