From ddevarshi@hotmail.com Tue Jun 26 16:29:44 2001
Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 17:06:09 +0530
From: Dhirendra Devarshi 
To: Natural History of South Asia - General discussion and research
    
Subject: LPG legal status

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http://www.oneworld.org/cse/html/dte/dte4_3.htm

Gasping For Gas

by: Lopamudra Banerjee

In the absence of a government policy on the use of liquefied petroleum gas
for automobiles, the illegal market is flourishing where safety norms are
non-existent.

After compressed natural gas (cng), liquefied petroleum gas (lpg) seems to
be the most favoured fuel in India for those who want to switch over to an
environmentally-cleaner option. While cng has been introduced as clean
automotive fuel in Delhi following the Supreme Court order of July 28, 1998,
the Union government is yet to formulate a policy to allow lpg for
automotive use.

Today, lpg seems to be a better option in cities where the infrastructure
for the distribution lpg is already in place. This is because the supply of
cng is limited to its pipeline network and therefore only a few cities such
as Delhi, Mumbai and a few cities of Gujarat stand to benefit. But bottling
and distribution units for lpg can be found in almost every state in the
country. The biggest benefit of moving to gaseous fuel options is the
substantial reduction in particulate matter that gets virtually eliminated
when compared to diesel.

Legislative guidelines to allow lpg for automotive use have been on the
anvil for a long time. But the government seems to be dragging its feet
because of the conflicting needs of meeting both cooking and transport
demands at the same time. Though exact estimates are not available,
officials of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (mpng) claim that the
current registered demand for cooking lpg in Indian cities can be met fully
by
the year 2001. Therefore, supplying lpg for automotive use should not be a
problem, they say. But Rajeev Sharma, managing director, Indraprastha Gas
Limited, warns that if the demand for cooking lpg escalates in future and if
rural areas are also brought within the ambit of cooking gas supply, then
there will be a huge shortfall.

Meanwhile, market pressure to allow lpg for automotive use is building up.
Several manufacturers have started planning a number of products based on
lpg and vendors have set up shops to sell lpg conversion kits. Even the
Karnataka high court had ordered that all autorickshaws in the state must
run only on lpg by January 2000. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (bpcl)
has set up a lpg dispensing/filling station at Vasant Vihar in Delhi.
Multinationals are also joining the bandwagon and are planning to set up a
lpg distribution network.

There is more to follow. Ahemdabad-based Rutu Auto Gas Private Ltd, is one
of the many companies trying to enter the lpg conversion market. It has
already converted a wide range of vehicles including a three-wheeler to lpg.
"We have successfully converted many models of passenger cars to lpg. These
cars have already been tested by the Automotive Research Association of
India (arai) for safety and emissions. As soon as the government allows lpg
vehicles on road, we will start with conversions," says Manish Dave,
marketing manager of the company. Many automobile manufacturers have also
developed lpg versions of their vehicles, which include the Ford's Ikon, and
the two-wheeler giant tvs Suzuki. Arun Sekri, senior manager, bpcl, claims
that his company can supply auto lpg as soon as the government allows it.

While the government sits tight on the amendment of rules, automobile
mechanics have started retrofitting passenger cars with lpg conversion kits
to run vehicles on cooking grade lpg, throwing all concerns for safety norms
to the wind. In Kerala, there are more than 100,000 vehicles that are
reportedly running on lpg, despite section 252 of the Kerala Motor Vehicles
Act, which makes it illegal. In Calcutta, there are more than 300 cars
reported to be running on lpg and in Delhi and Mumbai the numbers are
estimated to be in thousands.

Down To Earth investigated this illegal conversion market in Delhi and found
that these conversions were being done mainly by road-side car mechanics.
Manmohan Sharma of Reliable Automobiles is one such mechanic who uses
imported kits for these conversions. They are priced between Rs 7,000 and Rs
13,000, and for dilapidated vehicles the cost is Rs 15,000. Raza Abbas of
Sara Lee Gas claims that at least one conversion is performed every day in
all the five branches he owns. Both Sharma and Abbas do not have any
technical expertise and rely only on their experience of repairing
automobiles to execute these conversions.

Meanwhile, the government has no clue as to how to deal with this rampant
illegal use of cooking lpg. Alok Swaroop, secretary, state transport
authority, says that there is a serious anomaly in section 52 of the cmva,
because of which he is unable to take action against these offenders. This
act states that "...modification of the engine, or any part thereof, of a
vehicle for facilitating its operation by a different type of fuel or source
of energy including battery, compressed natural gas, solar power, or any
other fuel source of energy other than liquid petroleum gas shall be treated
as an alteration." This can be interpreted to mean that vehicles converted
to run on lpg are an exception and do not need the approval of any
authorised agency.

Clearly, the Union government needs to remove the legal snags and put in
place the safety and emission norms for lpg vehicles for the maximum
environment benefit and ensure its safe use.