Status of implementation of the Supreme Court order to convert public transport buses to compressed natural gas (CNG) March 4, 2002

The Supreme Court had extended the deadline till January 31 for the phase out all diesel buses and to replace these with CNG fuelled buses.

The position on date is that very little has happened. The Delhi government has said that it cannot implement the order in this timeframe and has asked the court to grant an extension - till August 2004. The Union government agrees with this schedule and in addition would like the court to ignore its earlier order and to allow diesel buses complying with Euro II norms (applicable norms for Delhi) to operate in the city.

The following status reports and affidavits have been filed in the court by government agencies on the status of implementation and we are presenting a brief analysis of the often, contradictory positions in these documents:

a.    Status Report 1&2 submitted by the commissioner cum secretary (transport), Government of NCT;
b.    Affidavit from the Union of India; and,
c.    Affidavit from Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL).



1. Is there adequate gas to implement the court order?

The issue about gas supply is simply that the Union government has to allocate more gas to Delhi to implement the court order. Since the last hearing, the Union government has roughly doubled its earlier allocation to Delhi's vehicular fleet. But even this increased allocation made in January 2002 - by diverting gas from a single user, Maruti Udyog Limited - will be totally inadequate for implementation of the Supreme Court order. In fact, it will not even meet the full needs of the 10,000 buses ordered by the court.

To meet the needs of current and projected vehicles in the city - the city requires a mere 4.8 per cent of the current supply of gas by the HBJ pipeline. The production of gas in the South Bassein gas fields has also increased over the last 2-3 years. But the increased production has been allocated to industry, ignoring the Supreme Court directive for Delhi.

The Ministry of Oil and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has increased allocation to Delhi from 3.87 lakh kg/day to 7.9 lakh kg per day (0.48 mmscmd to 0.98 mmscmd) in January 2002.

The total gas allocated to the transport sector is now 6.4 lakh kg/day (0.8 mmscmd). The rest is for city gas distribution and internal consumption.

The total gas projected for vehicles (all buses, autos, cars, taxis) in Delhi is 16.1 lakh kg per day (2 mmscmd), which is a mere 4.8 per cent of the current production from South Bassein fields which is supplied through the HBJ pipeline.

The increased allocation of gas to Delhi has come because the government decided on January 1, 2002 to withdraw the total supply of gas to one user, Maruti. Its supply was terminated on January 23, 2002. The abrupt disconnection of gas to Maruti smacks of petty action against a member of the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) as it was equally feasible for the government to reduce the allocation of gas to all users to make provisions for Delhi.

In fact, if only 3.7 per cent of gas was cut on a pro-rata basis from the current consumers and diverted to Delhi, it would be sufficient to meet the needs of all current and projected vehicles running on CNG.

There has been a practice of pro-rata cuts on all consumers to make space for new allocation. So, for instance, when the Supreme Court had directed that gas should be supplied to consumers in Agra and Mathura to reduce pollution in the Taj trapezium, this was done by cutting the gas of all consumers on a pro-rata basis. This lead to minimal disruption of all users and did not penalise any one industry group.

The supply of natural gas has also increased from the South Bassein fields in the last few years - from 38 mmscmd to 41 mmscmd. This has happened after the court order of July 1998, and instead of using this increased production for implementation of the court, the government has chosen to allocate it to industries. So:

  • Reliance got an addition 0.7 mmscmd
  • Essar got an additional 0.4 mmscmd
  • Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation got an additional 0.4 mmscmd
  • GIPCL (power generating company in Baroda) got 0.5 mmscmd (interestingly this gas is being supplied without any allocation by the government and as a "matter of favour"
  • IPCL-Dahej got an additional 0.85 mmscmd
The Union government must be asked to enhance the allocation for Delhi's vehicular fleet. Without this, the court order cannot be implemented.


2. How many buses can be supplied gas currently?

As per IGL's affadavit the status as date is:
  • CNG allocated to the transport sector by MoPNG is 6.4 lakh kg per day.
  • Total dispensing capacity of IGL is 5.5 lakh kg per day in February 2002.
  • The total gas needed by all the vehicles on the road in January-February is 5.49 lakh kg per day. This means as of date, IGL can just about supply enough gas to all the vehicles on the road. (See table 1: CNG needed per day to meet the full demand).
  • The total CNG buses on road are 3800. Thus, as of February 2002, if all vehicles were to come for refills everyday not a single bus can be added to the fleet.
Table 1: CNG needed per day to meet the full demand (February 2002)
Type of Vehicle Total vehicles actual and projected for Feb 2002 CNG needed per day per vehicle(Kg) Total amount of CNG needed per day on the assumption that all vehicles come for refill everyday(lakh kg per day)
Buses 3,800 70 2.66
RTVs 1,750 18 0.32
Cars 10,350 4 0.41
Taxis 4,000 8 0.32
Autos 35,500 5 1.78
Total 58,500   5.49
Source: Indraprastha Gas Limited
  • By March end, if IGL increases its dispensing capacity to 6.9 lakh kg per day as it states in its affidavit and also has the 55 compressors working, it can supply gas to an additional 2000 buses and all the other vehicles on road today.
Table 2: How many buses can be added to the fleet by March 2002

Type of Vehicle Total vehicles projected for March 2002 CNG needed per day per vehicle(Kg) Total amount of CNG needed per day(lakh kg)
Buses 5,800** 70 4.06
RTVs 1,750 18 0.32
Cars 10,350 4 0.41
Taxis 4,000 8 0.32
Autos 35,500 5 1.78
Total 61,400   6.89
Source: Indraprastha Gas Limited
Note: ** Projected figures for buses
  • MoPNG has allocated only 6.4 lakh kg of gas for transport while IGL will be in a position to dispense 6.9 lakh kg of gas in March 2002. This means allocation is falling short by 0.5 lakh kg per day.
  • Thus in March 2002, not only will dispensing capacity fall short of the demand if the Supreme court order of 10,000 buses has to be implemented, the allocation to IGL will have to be increased to 7 lakh kg per day to cater to 10,000 buses or 10 lakh kg per day to meet the needs to all vehicles on road today. This is assuming that there will be no further growth in CNG vehicles in other categories.

Delhi government and the Union government claim in their affidavits that only 200 buses can be added to the fleet every month as per gas dispensing capacity. According to our calculation IGL can cater to 5800 buses by March 2002.

After March 2002, IGL cannot cater to any further growth unless there is new allocation of gas by the Union government.
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It is clear from the above, that all parties have shown a complete lack of seriousness in implementing the court order;
  • The Union government has failed to allocate enough gas to meet the needs of vehicles. The MoPNG has not even provided till date for the needs of the 10,000 buses, which the court ordered in mid-1998.
  • The Delhi government has done little to expedite the clearance of the 12-inch pipeline from Dhaula Kuan to G.T. Karnal road, needed to set up mother and online stations in west Delhi and increase the dispensing capacity;
  • The infrastructure provided by IGL is only now beginning to outpace the demand for the gas. Only in March 2002, will IGL have excess dispensing capacity and could cater to 2000 additional buses. But after March, its expansion will depend on the additional allocation of gas by the Union government and the clearance for the pipeline by the Delhi government
Therefore, all these agencies have worked to ensure that the supply position remains tight and provides them with an easy excuse to allow the diesel buses to ply.


3. How will the demand of other category of vehicles be met after March?

By end March 2002, there will be enough gas (allocation and supply) to meet the needs of 5,800 buses along with the fleet of other CNG vehicles on the roads today. This assumes that there will be little or no increase in the CNG fleet (except buses) based on the experience of the last few months. In January, for instance, no new CNG vehicles have been registered.

This is because the government (through IGL) has made it clear that it will not supply gas to private vehicles even though this would have lead to major improvements in air quality. It has also clarified that the court order for converting to CNG is not applicable to autos and taxis.

This is already leading to a marked decrease in CNG vehicles. According to data provided to IGL by the State Transport Authority the number of CNG vehicles coming to the roads is clearly declining. While 529 CNG buses were added to the fleet during the period August to October 2001, only 293 CNG buses were added to the fleet during the period mid-October to mid-December 2001. Similar trend has been observed in the case of other vehicles as well.

Graph 2: Negative growth rate of CNG vehicles

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  • During August to October 2001, 529 CNG buses were added to the fleet, which decreased to 293 during the period October-December 2001, a decrease of more than 44 per cent.
  • Autos show a drop of as much as 49 per cent and taxis almost 47 per cent.


4. Is the problem dispensing capacity (as the Union government claims) or something else?

There is a discrepancy in the estimates given by IGL in its affidavit and given by the Union government in its affidavit, with regards the compression and dispensing capacity available in the city.

The Union government affidavit puts the blame on the inadequate dispensing capacity of the IGL as the root cause of the problem. It states that IGL is in a position to dispense only 70 per cent of their compression capacity. According to the Union government by Feburary 2002, IGL can compress 6 lakh kg of natural gas per day but can dispense only 4.2 lakh kg of this compressed gas.

But IGL disagrees. According to IGL compression capacity is equal to dispensing capacity so far. IGL can compress and dispense 5.5 lakh kg per day in February 2002.

Graph 3: Discrepancy in MoPNG and IGL affidavits as regards the dispensing capacity of IGL
MoPNG claims that dispensing capacity of IGL is 70 per cent of the total compression capacity. But IGL estimates show that their dispensing capacity matches their compression capacity.

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Source: IGL and Union of India affidavits


IGL has estimated the total amount of CNG needed per day in February which shows that to meet the demand for 6,900 buses, 1750 RTV, 10,350 cars, 4000 taxis, 35,500 autos, the total CNG required per day would be 7.66 lakh kg per day. But based on their actual observed sales everyday at the dispensing stations they have found that about 70 per cent of the vehicles come for refill everyday and not 100 per cent. This means their actual per day sales is 70 per cent of the dispensing capacity, which is 5.33 lakh kg per day. On this basis IGL estimates that the total demand per day in February 2002 would be 5.33 lakh kg per day.

This has been misinterpreted by the Union government to say that IGL can dispense only 70 per cent of the compression capacity.


5. What do we want?

Given the above analysis it is clear:
  • There is enough gas (allocation and supply) to meet the needs of only 3,800 buses as of February 2002;
  • There will be enough gas (allocation and supply) to meet the needs of 5,800 buses as of March 2002.

The Delhi government and Union government's claim that only 150-200 CNG buses can be added to the fleet is baseless:
a.    If IGL affidavit is used to estimate the supply, an additional 2000 can be added by March 2002;
b.    The Delhi or Union government do not address, in their status reports or affidavits, the schedule for additional allocation or clearance of the pipeline. Without this schedule, the order cannot be implemented.

It is clear from the discrepancies pointed out above, that the parties are misrepresenting facts to the court. We believe that all parties are guilty of contempt of court and should be penalised.

In this situation we would like to suggest the following;
  1. Ask the Union government to increase the allocation of gas to Delhi to 16 lakh kg (2 mmscmd) (10 lakhs needed for current vehicles and 10,000 buses as per the court order and additional to cater to growth in vehicles). This increased allocation should be given by diverting gas from other consumers on a pro-rata basis.
  2. As the court orders order have been disregarded, treat it as a contempt of court and impose a monthly fine of Rs 23,000 per month on each diesel bus operator for as long as they continue to ply. This amount is double the amount of the monthly interest that CNG bus owners would pay on the loan that taken to buy new CNG buses. But it is still less than the estimated profit of Rs 50,000 per month, which diesel operators are reported to make.

    The penalty has to be at a level sufficient to encourage speedy conversion to CNG, that is it should be much less expensive in the long run to buy a CNG bus than to continue paying the penalty to operate on diesel.

    This penalty will also provide the incentive to governments to expedite the implementation of the court order. Otherwise, they will continue to pass the buck and use every excuse to flout and delay implementation.


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