CNG makes inroads in India's auto sector

Sales of CNG-powered cars in India's automotive sector accounted for 8.6 percent of total sales in FY22 as against 6.3 percent in the previous fiscal, according to data put out by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

- Brian de Souza

With CNG losing its tag as a fuel that is generally associated with the taxi and tour segment, well-heeled buyers could well be seen queueing up at CNG outlets across the country.

Sales were driven by a lower total cost of ownership that this fuel offers, and the skyrocketing prices of diesel and petrol contributed to this increase.

In terms of numbers, the total number of CNG sales for PVs were at 265,383 units, 54 percent over 171,288 units sold in the previous fiscal year. For the passenger car segment, sales of CNG accounted for 12.1 percent of sales at 177,410 units as against 120,070 units in the previous year. For the UV segment which overtook sales of passenger cars in the fiscal gone by, CNG accounted for 4.1 percent of sales translating into 61,335 units as against 31,776 units in FY21.

Maruti currently dominates the market for CNG but in FY22, Tata Motors threw its hat into the CNG ring with two offerings, the Tiago and Tigor that have seen good demand in the last quarter of the fiscal. Tata joined Maruti and Hyundai which have a slew of CNG offerings with the former having options on nine of its brands and Hyundai, four.