Although automotive industry is experiencing slowdown, Greaves Cotton Limited, manufacturer of engines for three-wheeler and four-wheelers in the automotive industry, has shown positive growth of 33 per cent among CNG 3-wheelers. Additionally, it has successfully sold more than five million engines in the last two decades.

 

With the company’s offering of 400cc water-cooled CNG engine, powering large body CNG three-wheelers, Greaves has spotted a white space in smaller urban towns and semi-urban areas.  The unique characteristic of high torque at low RPM has made Greaves offering of 400cc water-cooled CNG engine popular in this segment. Greaves has registered a growth of 70 per cent in the segment in FY18-19 and 33 per cent growth in Q1 2019-20.  

 

CNG is quietly becoming the alternate fuel of choice to power auto-rickshaws. From a scarce presence of around 600 CNG stations two-three years ago, India today has 1400 CNG stations. The Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board of India (PNGRB) has awarded Work Program for 4,300 CNG stations covering 86 Geographical Areas.

 

With CNG network slated to reach Tier-II & lower urban towns and at the same time cover semi-urban areas in India coupled with improved three-wheeler demand in these areas, industry experts believe that there will be a rapid CNG adoption. Clearly, CNG three wheelers are slated for an unprecedented growth in coming years.

 

VG Ramakrishnan, Managing Partner, Avanteum Advisors LLP said, “With rapid expansion of CNG network in India CNG powered vehicles is likely to bridge the transition between fossil fuels and electric vehicles.”Paul Zachariah, CEO, Continental Engines Ltd (manufacturer, BAXY brand three-wheelers) said, “Large Body CNG three-wheeler segment has experienced unprecedented boom in Indian market, albeit in pockets with CNG stations. Our (sales) growth has doubled in this segment in NCR region. We strongly believe that this is just the beginning of emergence of large body CNG three-wheeler segment. With increasing CNG station penetration and due to its lowest cost per km, we see very fast adoption of large body category of three-wheeler in semi-urban and tier-II towns with CNG availability. Baxy’s rugged vehicles and low maintenance supported by Greaves’ new water-cooled CNG engine has populated Gurgaon, NCR regions very fast where CNG is available.”

 

Debashis Mitra, President Engine Business, Greaves Cotton Limited, said, “There are many three-wheelers in the country manufactured by Piaggio, Atul Auto, Continental Auto, J.S. Auto, Scooter India, etc. most of which are powered by Greaves.”Customer experience of the CNG three-wheeler in Gurgaon noted that on 10–12 hour drive per day, the auto can accelerate well and can take heavy load, requiring less maintenance.

 

With CNG slated to reach smaller towns and semi-urban areas, the large body CNG three-wheeler category is expected to grow multi-fold in next two years. Debashis Mitra said, “Greaves continues to make significant stride in its pursuit to become a fuel agnostic player. While Greaves has already found a sweet spot in large body CNG 3W segment, we are further completing our bouquet of product range with bi-fuel CNG, bi-fuel LPG, mono-fuel CNG run engines.”