Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari has said that public transport  may be modernised which is based on biofuels, CNG and electricity as fuel. Addressing a Webinar - 4th UITP India Bus Seminar today he said most of the State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) are incurring huge expenditure on conventional fuels which are expensive. Shri Gadkari called for moving on to biofuels, CNG and Electricity as transportation fuel. This he said will not only save on fuel bill but also contribute to economy and pollution reduction. At present Shri Gadkari said country is spending huge amounts on import of crude oil/hydrocarbons, which he said, need to be reduced.

Referring to workability of the use of biofuels/CNG etc, he informed that Nagpur has started to convert 450 buses on to biofuels. As many as 90 buses have already been converted so far. He added that loss in bus service is about Rs 60 crore per year, which can be saved by converting  buses into CNG. Shri Gadkari also informed 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.  He further indicated at adopting other sources of CNG like paddy straw/parali, which have multiple benefits to farmers, transport, environment and economy.

The Minister called for adopting London Bus model harnessing utilisation of private capital for better public transport. He felt encouraging Public Private Partnership (PPP) may also be pursued. Shri Gadkari said, 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. Shri Gadkari said, Bus operators may consider providing better services like good attendants, provision for entertainment tools like audio music, video films, etc which can fetch better returns.

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RCJ/MS/Irshad