Maruti Suzuki estimates cars operating on compressed natural gas to account for eight lakh units, or 20 per cent of the four million car market, by 2015-16.
“The opportunity is big. The estimated penetration of our recently launched CNG models in Delhi, Gujarat and Mumbai is 20-25 per cent,” said Mr Mayank Pareek, Managing Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales.
At present, CNG variants account for a mere 2.3 per cent of the car market. However, automakers and fuel distributors are optimistic about growth thanks to the growing network of fuel stations. The auto sector requires just 10 per cent of the CNG available in India.
Mr Prabhat Singh, Director, Marketing, GAIL (India), said there would be 16,000 km of CNG pipelines in four years while gas availability in the near future would be 23 million tonnes annually.
Pipeline network
GAIL, Reliance Industries and Gujarat Petroleum Corporation are adding 1,000 km each year to the natural gas pipeline network. CNG is expected to be available in 86 cities in the next three years while the target is to cover 330 (cities) by 2020.
Maruti had launched CNG variants of its Alto, Wagon R, Eeco, Estilo and SX4 in August.
“We already have CNG options for five of our mass-selling models. Our focus is to develop the market rather than add CNG options on other models,” Mr Pareek added. The company has sold 8,000 CNG cars so far in Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat which have access to the fuel.
High purchase cost
Apart from poor infrastructure, he said customers are irked by the high initial cost of acquiring CNG cars. The additional fitments, which are imported, make Maruti's range costlier by Rs 60,000 compared with petrol versions.
“If the volume of natural gas supply improves, we would like to reduce imports of CNG parts which will reduce the cost of vehicles,” Mr Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director of Maruti, said.
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