The Centre on Thursday launched a pilot programme to run scooters on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in the national capital.

The project aims to find out if large-scale conversion of two-wheelers could help reduce air pollution.

The first batch of 10 scooters retrofitted with CNG kits were flagged off by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. In the pilot phase, 50 scooters would be converted to run on the clean fuel.

Running on a mix of oil and petrol, the scooter spews out between tens and thousands of times more fine particles and toxic gases, proportionate to the amount of fuel consumed, than even heavy trucks and buses. In a 2014 study published in Nature Communications, scientists pointed the finger at two-stroke scooters, a ubiquitous sight in developing countries like India, for massively contributing to local air pollution.

“After evaluating the experience of running two-wheelers on CNG, the programme will be expanded,” said Pradhan.