Indian Taxis and CNG
Seeing the lucrative opportunity of having a cab in India, a lot of car owners are transforming their cars into taxis and penetrating into the Indian car market. The most commonly used type of taxi is the Tata Indica, i.e. the diesel version. This car is used as a means of private transport in metropolitan cities like Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore in India. When it comes to the Indica, Turbo and V2 are two of the most widely used variants as cabs or taxis. A glance at the past of the Indian taxi would remind us of the humble Premier Padmini although one really does not have to glance at the past, one can still see these plying on the Indian streets. Back in the days the Premier Padmini was very fuel efficient thanks to its 1089cc.
New breeds of taxis which have recently appeared in the Indian car market are the ones that run on CNG or Compressed Natural Gas. CNG can be defined as a fossil fuel that has a lot of advantages over traditional fuels like LPG, diesel or gasoline. The combustion of this alternative fuel does create less greenhouse gases and therefore this is considered to be an eco friendly option as compared to gasoline and other more pollution causing fuels. Also, if there is a spill then CNG would prove to be a lot safer than other fuels because it is lighter than air and hence it would disperse very quickly on being released.
As per the recent rules and regulations, it is mandatory to convert all taxis, including the call center taxis that are plying on the Indian roads into CNG cabs. The main reason behind this is to enforce the use of green fuel. Owing to this all the commercial cabs that constitute a major portion of the Indian public transport system have switched over to CNG mode and there has been a substantial decrease in the amount of pollution in India.
CNG has many advantages over traditional fuels, the foremost being that its cost is half the price of petrol or gas. Another positive aspect of CNG is that it burns clean, meaning there are very few harmful or toxic emissions. With so advantages, it is no surprise that the CNG taxis have been warmly welcomed into the Indian market and have managed to gain the appreciation of a majority of population.