India promotes CNG at technology expo
India promotes CNG at technology expo
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
With air pollution becoming a serious problem, especially in
Jakarta and other big cities, Indonesia plans to adopt Indian
compressed natural gas (CNG) technology.
Following an agreement to promote the use of CNG at a Joint
Commission Meeting in New Delhi between the two countries'
ministers last week, the Engineering Export Promotion Council of
India (EEPC) is talking to Indonesian engineering companies to
develop conversion kits that enable vehicles to use this fuel.
Indian companies developing CNG technology will join some 100
other engineering business establishments in such sectors as
machinery, automobiles and metal casting at Wednesday's INDIATECH
2005 Expo at the Jakarta Convention Center.
"We are focusing the INDIATECH Expo on CNG technology that is
in wide use in our country," EEPC chairman Rakesh Shah said on
Tuesday.
India has succeeded in converting some 200,000 vehicles to use
the cleaner fuel. The Indian government has also made it
mandatory for public transportation vehicles in New Delhi to use
CNG in a bid to reduce pollution and keep maintenance costs low.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso seems to have been inspired by this
success, and said last month that all public transportation
vehicles operating in the city, including taxis and official
government cars, should switch to CNG to help reduce the city's
alarming levels of air pollution.
"With the technology being introduced through the exhibition,
we hope Jakarta will soon share New Delhi's experience," said
Shah.
Aside from introducing the environment-friendly technology,
the expo also aimed to facilitate Indian small- and medium-
enterprises to work together with similar business establishments
in Indonesia, said Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Hemant Krishan
Singh.
"We are acting as a facilitator for further growth in trade
and cooperation between the two countries," he said.
Last year's two-way trade between India and Indonesia stood at
US$3 billion, an increase on 2003's $2.4 billion. India's
engineering sector exported some $172 million worth of goods to
Indonesia, and this was projected to grow by 40 percent this
year, Shah said. (003)