By Muhammad Yasir
KARACHI: The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered Rickshaws have made their debut at the Frere Business Centre in the commercial hub of the city.
The four-stroke, low noise, low pollution and environment-friendly CNG powered rickshaws on display at the lone outlet have gripped the attention of city’s rickshaw drivers.
These three wheelers named Super Power manufactured by NJ Auto Industries comes with a price tag of Rs125,000 while delivery requires advance booking against down payment of Rs50,000 at the designated outlets of the company. The LPG powered two-stroke rickshaw currently cost from Rs60,000 to Rs100,000 whereas top of the line three wheeler from Vespa is priced at Rs1,15,000.
The new rickshaws run on CNG available at Rs31 per kg whereas the current models of three wheelers use petrol-oil mix or LPG that is being sold at Rs55 per kg.
A dealer at NJ showroom Aziz ur Rehman, said the rush is increasing day by day as the news is spreading among the rickshaw people. He claimed that about 1,000 people had visited the display centre while 20 have made advance booking.
He added that three wheeler transporters are very interested in buying this new product due to upcoming ban on the two stroke rickshaws by the local government, however most of the buyers seek lease and instalments facility. Aziz said that the company would launch instalment sales of their three wheelers if there is enough demand.
General Manager NJ Auto Industries Mansoor Alam told The News that their CNG powered environment friendly rickshaws would be launched from next week all over the country and showrooms would be opened in every district.
He said the company has received only 100 bookings from their 250 registered dealers but demand is expected to rise with the passage of time. He said that in near future more companies would start making four-stroke rickshaws while existing manufacturers are likely to switch over from two-stroke to four stroke three-wheelers.
General Secretary Rickshaw and Vespa Welfare Association Ejaz Ahmed said that 40 per cent of the rickshaw drivers own their vehicles bought on instalments and they do not have enough money to buy the new CNG rickshaw on lump-sum payment.
He hoped that if the government initiates a scheme for poor rickshaw drivers and provides them rickshaw on zero down payment and easy instalment a large number of people would be able to save their livelihood threatened by the upcoming ban on two stroke three wheelers.
He said that the rickshaw drivers are ready to sell their two-stroke rickshaw to acquire four-stroke version.
Currently, over 60,000 LPG powered two-stroke rickshaws are plying in Karachi sans silencer causing serious pollution problems and about 54,000 of their kin are running in Lahore.
The district and local governments, particularly Lahore and Karachi have declared that two stroke three wheelers would be banned in the city limits by the end of 2007.
The local automobile companies could initiate a big business by manufacturing CNG powered four-stroke rickshaw. Lease and hire purchase schemes could attract the rickshaw operators to buy this environmental friendly commercial vehicle.