Delhi government in talks with Swedish company Scania to launch bio-fuel buses in city

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is in talks with Swedish company Scania to launch biogas-run buses in the city. "We have no dearth of waste. In fact, we don't know what to do with it. Farmers here can also grow biofuel crops if required. Our officials have already visited Stockholm to understand how it runs public transport on biogas or bio-CNG," transport minister Gopal Rai said on Thursday at a roundtable on environment-friendly bus service.

Many countries are moving away from diesel and petrol because of their pollution potential, Rai said, adding that Scania has experimented with such buses both in Stockholm and Nagpur. "The concept is to use local waste for local transport. The government is now considering how to steer waste management towards production of biogas for public transport. The liquid waste from sewage treatment plants can also be used," he said.

It can also bring down air pollution by using waste from the landfills for biogas production, the minister pointed out. However, Delhi is yet to have a formal policy on alternative fuels for heavy vehicles.

On the success of the odd-even scheme, Rai said it was introduced for two reasons-changing the mindset of people towards public transport and addressing air pollution. "No long-term public transport programme can be made without changing people's mindset. Our long-term plans parallel to the schemes like odd-even is to move towards cleaner fuels like biofuels."

Rai also thanked the central agencies, including Delhi Police, for their cooperation during the odd-even initiative. "We have to rise above political differences to solve this problem." The government will hold a review meeting on January 18.

The AAP government is also considering increasing taxes on personal cars and introducing a range of public transport that can run on market rates without any subsidy, Rai said while replying to a question from the biofuel and electric vehicle industry. Alternative fuels are likely to be introduced in Dwarka, Rohini, Okhla and Janakpuri, which have already been adopted as pilot project areas by the transport department.

Biofuel and biogas are more viable for heavy transport segments like buses and trucks while electric vehicles still aren't financially viable, said experts.