Pune first to fuel public transport with bio-diesel

“This would make PMT the first transport body in the state to use bio-diesel on such a large scale. With jatropha available in abundance in Maharashtra, we expect the prices to remain steady. We would end up saving around Rs 12 crore a year,’’ said PMT general manager Niranjan Kumar Sudhanshu.

Already, PMT conducted a trial run of 10 buses on bio-diesel last month. After beginning with 105 buses next month, PMT plans to eventually run all its 850 buses on bio-diesel.

Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are the other states that have experimented with running public trasport on bio-diesel. APSRTC conducted trial runs and its deputy chief mechanical engineer Arun Kumar said the “results of the experiment were positive.” It plans to conduct the experiment on a larger scale.

Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) had flagged off some buses running on bio-diesel in March 2005. But they sputtered to a halt in a few months. GSRTC blamed irregular supply of bio-diesel, and switched back to ordinary diesel.

PMT will be buying bio-diesel at Rs 35 per litre from Garware Chemicals, Aurangabad, and Shirke Biochemicals, Pune. Against that, the cost of diesel is Rs 40 per litre.

The recent hike in diesel prices would have added Rs 50 lakh monthly to PMT’s fuel bill. But the gradual switch to bio-diesel could offset that.

DaimlerChrysler’s initiative

DiamlerChrysler India, Pune, has been trying to keep pace with auto giants in the use of bio-diesel. Trial-runs of its C-Class Mercedes-Benz have been conducted. And in August it ran a Mercedes Benz Viano from Chandigarh to Leh. In August last, it undertook a trial run of the C-Class and Mercedes-Benz Viano (a seven-seater van) from Chandigarh to Leh. These trials were the second phase; the first phase road trials of its bio-diesel programme were in 2003.