Maharashtra: State transport body mulls diesel-LNG shift for buses
The state transport department is considering adopting the public private partnership (PPP) model to convert its fleet of diesel-run buses to LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) ones. Around 1,200 Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses are set to be converted in the first phase of the plan. State transport minister Anil Parab told TOI, “A major challenge for us at the moment is to save on the fuel cost of a fleet of almost 10,000 buses. Converting the buses to lower expenditure, all the while adopting a more environment friendly option, is a better way to move forward.” “The centre provides states with funds to take steps and adopt more environment friendly fuel options. If the Centre doesn’t provide the funds, we will subscribe to the PPP model and will rope in a company to convert the buses, as well as construct filling stations. It has been decided that the work will be done in phases and that 1,200 buses will be LNG enabled in the first phase,” Parab told TOI. Since the lockdown, the MSRTC buses have barely been making any trips with inter-district transportation being completely suspended. In some districts intra-district transportation has resumed but the state transport body has been looking at heavy losses with more than 70% of the buses having been non-operational for more than three months. “Diesel cost accounts for close to 40% of our expenditure and with the price of fuel on the rise, things could get even more difficult for the MSRTC. The idea is to cut this cost by converting to LNG. The first phase of conversion should be completed within the next three to four months. When it comes to the conversion of the whole fleet, we are looking at the first half of next year. It depends on whether things get back on track in a proper way,” another official said. The transport department is mulling restarting inter-district transportation from July but a date has not been fixed yet.
Iran’s gas exports rose 3.6 billion cubic metres in year to March, says SHANA
Iran’s gas exports increased by 3.6 billion cubic metres or 26 per cent in the year to March 2020 compared to a year earlier, the oil ministry’s news site SHANA reported. About 270 billion cubic metres of gas was produced in the Iranian calendar year ending in March, National Iranian Gas Company head Hassan Montazer Torbati said, SHANA reported. He said an outbreak of the new coronavirus in Iran had not affected development programmes in the gas industry. Iran has been the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in the Middle East, with 10,508 deaths reported by Sunday.
Petrol, diesel price rise resume after a day
Fuel prices rose on Monday again after a days pause with oil marketing companies increasing the pump price of petrol by 5 paisa and diesel by 13 paisa per litre in Delhi. In the national capital, petrol price on Monday stood at Rs 80.43 per litre while that of diesel at Rs 80.53 a litre. With this increase, fuel prices have moved up on 22 of the last 23 days (with no rise on Sunday). Petrol prices, however, were unchanged for an additional day in between after the daily revision based on dynamic pricing was reinstated by OMCs. Since the daily price revision resumed on June 7, petrol price has increased Rs 9.17 and diesel rose by Rs 11.14 in the national capital. In the other cities the magnitude of increase was similar. During the past 23 days, the quantum of price hike gradually declined from around 60 paise raise for a few days, immediately post the resumption of daily price revision, to less than 20 paise during the past few days and now even less than 10 paisa per litre. In a historic development, the price of diesel surged above that of petrol in the national capital during this period. It continues to remain higher even though on Saturday the quantum of petrol price hike was higher than that of diesel. Officials in oil marketing companies said that it is hard to predict which of the two fuels will be priced higher in the Capital as the gap between the two is almost negligible. But petrol prices have shown more volatility in international markets that may take it ahead once again in coming days. Apart from Delhi, the retail prices of petrol and diesel have followed the traditional path in other metros with petrol being priced at a premium of between Rs 5 and 8 per litre. The difference between the auto fuel prices in Delhi and other metros is because of the taxation structure. While both petrol and diesel are at similar levels of taxes (state and centre) in Delhi, it is higher for petrol in many other Indian cities. Globally diesel is priced a tad higher than petrol. In India too, the base price of diesel is slightly higher than petrol but taxation at central and state levels changed the complexion of retail prices. If the price of petroleum products and crude hold their positions in global markets, then petrol and diesel prices rise may stop for a longer period and we may even see marginal fall in prices. Fuel prices have been increasing since June 7 when oil companies began the daily price revision mechanism after a hiatus of 82 days during the lockdown.