Shashank Srivastava, executive director of Maruti Suzuki India, said that between April 2020 and January 2021, car sales declined by 18 percent but CNG cars sales grew by 37 percent. This shows that due to rising petrol and diesel prices, people are adopting CNG cars as an alternative.
He said that due to the rising prices of petrol and diesel, now driving cars is proving expensive. At the same time, due to lower CNG price and better mileage, the demand for CNG cars is increasing among the people. Demand for CNG cars is increasing among customers who use the car regularly.
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He said, “The cost of running a CNG car comes to only Rs 1.5 per km while a petrol car costs Rs 4 per km.
He said that CNG models accounted for 21 percent of Maruti Suzuki’s cars. The company sold 1,06,000 units of CNG cars last year and is expected to sell 1,55,000 units of CNG cars by the end of 2021 this year.
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Maruti Celerio and WagonR in Mumbai and Pune sell 70 percent of CNG models. In Delhi, the demand for CNG models of WagonR is 50 percent.
Another reason for the increase in demand for CNG vehicles is the increase in the network of CNG stations. He said that four years ago the number of CNG stations in India was 1,200 which has currently doubled to 2,400.
He said, “By next year the number of CNG stations will increase to 4,500. Looking at the figures, it will increase from 1,200 to 4,500 in four years. Also the number of cities with CNG stations will increase. Four years ago where CNG stations were only 145 Were available in cities, while now more than 240 are available in cities. “
Also, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said in the budget that the government will expand CNG stations in 100 new cities. In March 2022, it is expected to cover about 375 cities.
He said that Maruti Suzuki is not compromising on safety, features and performance in its CNG cars. The company is also offering CNG cars with the latest safety features. Maruti has provided CNG option in 8 of its 14 car models. The company has said that in the coming time, other models will also be brought with the CNG option.
