Swedish automobile major Scania has taken its bus to Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) in India for homologation test as the last lap towards the pilot launch of the first-ever ethanol-run buses in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
The homologation test was conducted to ensure whether the vehicle abides by the regulatory provisions, a report by Indian news daily, The Economic Times, said.
Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) Mayor Pravin Datke said: "NMC had already requested city-based National Environmental Engineering Institute (NEERI) to conduct eco-friendly assessment test of the bus. NEERI conducted the tests and reports are awaited. Now CIRT has called the bus for homologation test which is considered as last examination.
"NMC had approved the proposal and submitted it to the Centre. NMC will run all 55 Green Buses and become role model for the entire nation in eco-friendly public transport," he said.
According to Datke, the Indian Government will help the city procure 55 ethanol-run buses.
The ethanol-run buses for public transport were initiated by Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari, who paved the way for a pilot test in association with the Nagpur civic body.
The pilot project, which was stated to be launched on August 22 last year, was scheduled to deploy five but was started with one bus. The project will be conducted up to August.
Scania director(sales) Sivakumar V said: "The bus will be handed back to NMC for operation after homologation test by month end. Nagpur is the first city to adopt the environment friendly technology. It has attracted a lot of interest from other states as well. NMC was very supportive to take the bus off for homologation testing.
"Now there is huge interest in biofuel-powered buses that are viewed as a solution to tackle climate change and create employment opportunities as well as reduce the nation's dependence on imported fossil fuels."
