FOUL FUEL: Not a single autorickshaw operator has applied for a conversion to LPG. A Telegraph picture

Not one autorickshaw has switched to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) though the last date for applying for the conversion lapsed on March 15.

The government, over the past nine months, had floated tenders thrice and received bids from companies that produce LPG kits.

The proposal for “largescale conversion” was considered after the state environment department provided Rs 2 crore to the transport department for the purpose.

“We have transferred the money to the transport department and have been told that the process is on,” said M.L. Meena, the principal secretary in the environment department.

But the “process”, as facts revealed, has not yet taken off. The subsidy for conversion has been hiked from Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 for each auto, but there are few takers for the LPG kits.

Only a few owners have applied for the conversion, though the transport department has made it mandatory for all autos (produced in 2000 or before) to switch to the LPG mode. There are around 10,000 autos produced in 2000 or before in city; the owners of only 450 have approached the transport department for the switch.

Environmentalists alleged that the Citu-backed auto operators’ union is encouraging drivers not to go for the conversion. “Post-switch, the operators will not be able to run the vehicles on adulterated fuel. Though autos are supposed to run on petrol, most operators actually run them on katatel — a cheaper fuel formed by mixing petrol, naphtha and kerosene. The mix causes immense air pollution,” said environmentalist S.M. Ghosh.

Kishore Ghosh, of the Citu-backed union, however, said: “We are not against the conversion but there are reports that two-stroke autos (the earlier variety) do not run efficiently on LPG.”

The kit-producing firms have rubbished the allegation. “Two-stroke autos have been successfully converted to the LPG mode in several places. In Bangalore, around 75,000 two-stroke autos are running on the green fuel,” said an official of a Delhi-based company.