KSRTC's first CNG bus on Thursday

Kochi: Signalling a shift towards cleaner energy, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will start operating the first CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)-run bus in Kochi on March 22. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will also launch four CNG refill stations on the city outskirts. “The bus will be deployed on the Vytilla-Vytilla circular route touching Edappally-Kaloor-Menaka and Kadavanthra," a senior KSRTC official said. 

"The Indian Oil Corporation has agreed to provide fuel till we set up our CNG filling stations at the Aluva regional workshop and Thevara hub. The bus will run as metro feeder service as it will touch most of the metro stations in the city.” Though the KSRTC purchased a CNG bus costing Rs 25 lakh in March, it was idling at the Central workshop at Thiruvananthapuram for nearly a year as CNG fuel was not available there.  It was loaded in a huge truck and brought to the Muttom workshop last week.

Indian Oil-Adani Gas Pvt Ltd (IOAGPL) constructed CNG stations at Kalamassery-FACT road, near KSRTC Garage at Muttom, on the national highway at Kalamassery and Kundanoor. As part of the Low Carbon bus project, the Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation, a subsidiary of the KSRTC, plans to introduce 550 electric and CNG buses in Kochi.  It has already identified 44 metro feeder routes in the port city and its nearby satellite towns. However, the project has made no progress with the KURTC yet to complete talks with a German Bank over the project funding.