Auto LPG body drills holes in MoRTH notification on vehicle conversion: Details

The Indian Auto LPG Coalition (IAC) on Wednesday has written to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, seeking a validity expansion for the type approval and crash test compliance, which has been proposed by the MoRTH through a draft notification. The IAC has said that mandatory crash tests and in-service conformity among other things for conversion of BS-VI vehicles to auto LPG and CNG are completely unviable and impractical.

The organisation claims that such a proposal would not only perpetuate the uneven playing field which has long persisted for the retro fitment players vis-à-vis the OEMs, but it would also compromise on the long-term environmental objectives of the government. IAC said that the government should allow the validity of type approval for perpetuity, as anything short of that will raise the cost prohibitively, which will deter the conversion kit makers and hamper the general growth of the auto retro fitment market as well.

IAC also said that getting a renewal every three years would cost as much as ₹10 crore for type approval or retro-fitment kit player, which would be a huge disincentive for everyone in the value chain.

The draft norms have proposed in-service conformity, applicable after 3 years for the operators. IAC says that given that the vehicle has already served almost half its life, the imposition of this rule and more importantly, implementation of this would not be practically feasible.

Auto LPG is considered one of the greener and cleaner fuel solutions against conventional fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel. In order to promote greener mobility, the government wants the old petrol and diesel vehicles to be retrofitted with Auto LPG and CNG kits alongside electric kits as well.