Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday inaugurated Assam’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) station in Dibrugarh.
The master station will be completely owned and operated by the Assam Gas Company Limited (AGCL) and providing fuel on cheaper rate.
CNG is one third cheaper in comparison to diesel and petrol prices.
The AGCL has planned to open subsequent stations in Tinsukia, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat and Guwahati.
Chief minister Sonowal has given a lot of emphasis to make the state free from pollution.
Sonowal said with the inauguration of this clean and green fuel station, it will reduce environment pollution.
“After we come to power in Assam, we had made an agenda to make the state terror and pollution free. So, today is the first step towards fulfilling the dream of making Assam pollution free and now CNG vehicles will become effective to control air pollution,” Sonowal said.
“Now, people can easily avail CNG fuel at cheaper rate compared to petrol and diesel. The CNG station will benefit the people in Dibrugarh. In coming years more CNG stations will be open in other districts of Assam,” he added.
CM Sonowal further thanked the Assam Gas Company Ltd, Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd and Assam State Transport Corporation for their efforts to set up this first-ever CNG fuel station in the state.
Currently, CNG price in Dibrugarh start at Rs 50.
Economical cars generally promise to deliver an impressive mileage of 26.6 km/ kg in CNG mode.
“CNG is a cheap fuel compared to petrol and diesel. CNG will cost Rs 50 per kg. As of today, a litre of petrol cost Rs 72 per litre while diesel cost Rs 65 per litre. While the mileage of petrol driven cars is around 15 km per litre, CNG provides a mileage of around 21 km per kg.
“So both in price and mileage CNG is a clear winner. CNG is also the cleanest fuel because of low carbon content. Therefore our first target will be auto rickshaws and school vans considering their high pollution emission,” an AGCL official said.
However, before switching to CNG fuel, people have to retrofit CNG kits in their vehicles.
The kits which will be installed by third parties will cost anywhere between Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 depending on the quality.