The last few years have seen a tremendous rise in the number of private vehicles switching to CNG — a far cheaper alternative to petrol and diesel. This, in turn, has led to the mushrooming of unauthorised CNG kit providers.

“A proper CNG conversion kit costs around Rs 30,000. In the grey market, they are available for around Rs 8,000,” said an official of the transport department. “While the owners of private and commercial vehicles are liable to be fined heavily if caught using sub-standard and unauthorised kits, we need to draw some guidelines to curb the grey market,” said the official.

“We need to tackle the issue step by step. First we need to inform the public who the authorised dealers are and that to ensure safety, they need to use authorised kits. Then we can take punitive action,” he said. The department has already issued a list of 102 authorised suppliers of CNG kits.

Only certified CNG kits —manufactured mainly in Gujarat or imported from Italy — can be installed by authorised dealers. The certification comes from the Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India.

As of now, there are 164 filling stations that supply CNG for nearly 1,50,000 vehicles plying across Delhi and the National Capital Region (see box). The gas is supplied by only one agency — Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) — which also supplies pipeline LPG for domestic use.