lakhs of guardians in the National Capital will now have to shell out more dough to send their wards to schools in CNG-enabled vehicles since the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Delhi was hiked by Rs 3.70 per kilo on Saturday. The recent hike will adversely affect around 30 lakh parents in the Capital, dependent on either CNG-run taxicabs or buses to ferry children to schools. With the hike, the clean fuel now costs Rs 45.60 per kilo.
The hike in the selling price of the fuel, on average, will incur an extra payload of Rs 2,220 per month on school buses. According to estimates, a school bus on average gives mileage of 5 km per kilo of the clean fuel. A school bus roughly covers about 100 km every day, picking and dropping students. This means it burns 20 kilo of CNG per day. Therefore, the hike results in an extra Rs 74 per day. This will be a thorn in parents’ side.
“We are beginning to feel the pinch of the CNG price hike. It’s a cross to bear. With clean fuel getting dearer owing to depreciation of the rupee in international market, the losses are mounting daily. To meet operational costs, bus fares will have to be revised,” said Bharat Arora, Principal, Mount Abu School, Rohini.
Apart from school buses, there are around 7,000 registered school cabs in Delhi. “The CNG hike has resulted in an aggregated loss of Rs 1,100 per month. Going by the rate at which CNG price gets revised in the Capital, there’s no option but to hike cab fares. The strain will be on parents,” said Nirankar Singh, school cab operator in West Delhi.
“I am afraid the recent hike in CNG will burn a hole in my pocket. So far there has been no hike in school bus fare, but I am certain they will be revised soon,” rued a parent.