The government is considering providing incentives to car owners who are willing to convert their gasoline-powered vehicles to natural

gas vehicles, an official says. National Development Planning Minister Armida S. Alisjahbana said Wednesday the government was committed to promoting natural gas usage in the country in order deal with energy shortages, particularly in the industrial and transportation sectors. We're currently focusing on boosting natural gas usage for public and private vehicles. It is cheaper and also cleaner than gasoline-based fuels, Armida said at the 2011 Indogas Conference and Exhibition. She said promoting natural gas, particularly in private vehicles, in the country would require a major investment, as new infrastructure would be required like additional fueling stations. And, every car owner would have to buy a converter to allow them to use natural gas, she said. Bappenas is currently calculating how much money would be required for the planned incentives, Armida said. She said the incentives would be a stimulus for car owners to alter their fuel consumption. We're going to learn from India. We'll also talk with some private companies, she said.

Indias Finance Minister Proposes Tax Incentives for Major Gas Infrastructure Development
July 8, 2009 | India

India Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee New Incentives for Investment, New Opportunities for NGV Businesses Indigenous natural gas production is set to double; LNG infrastructure is being expanded; development of a long distance gas highway blueprint to facilitate nationwide transportation of gas is proposed these were some of the points raised in Indias Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjees Union Budget 2009 2010 speech this week. The budget speech proposed the provision of investment-linked tax exemptions to replace the current profitlinked tax exemption scheme. To begin with, I propose to extend investment- linked tax incentives to the business of laying and operating cross country natural gas or crude or petroleum oil pipeline network for distribution on common carrier principle, said Mukherjee in a report carried by Thai Indian. The changes will benefit the local natural gas vehicle industry and assist India to meet its emission reduction goals. P M S Prasad, Reliance Industry Ltds president, is reported as saying, In India gas consumption had been limited by availability. Coupled with availability and growth in infrastructure, gas would find diversified usage beyond conventional power and fertiliser sectors, in areas like automotive fuels, replacement of LPG cylinders, development of distributed power generation and increased usage as industrial fuel etc. Most of these usages would replace oil and oil products reducing dependence of oil, he added. The budget speech is timely given the notification by the Delhi government that approx. 25,000 diesel-powered light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in the city, both three-wheelers and sub-one tonne four wheelers, have to convert to CNG by September 30. From that date nonconverted LCVs will be prevented from entering the city, according to the Business Standard. Volume-wise, this could be the single-largest order for CNG kits we have seen so far, said Nirmal K Minda, CMD of IANGV member, Minda Industries Ltd, the largest supplier of CNG kits to original equipment manufaturers (OEMs) or vehicle manufacturers.

Although conversions are off to a slow start, manufacturers and retro-fitters of CNG kits are hopeful of posting a robust growth in the coming months. Last year, on a low base, we grew by 20 per cent. This year, with more car companies like Maruti Suzuki preparing to roll out models with factory-fitted CNG kits, we expect to grow 100 per cent, said Minda. Industry commentators suggest a likely conversion rate of 60%, with the remainder of vehicles being sold to rural operators. The original deadline, set for June 30, was extended by the Assembly under advice from Power Minister A K Walia, with September 30 being declared final deadline.
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Congress continues incentives for natural gas vehicles

While the vehicle tax credits were not extended yet, the continuing of incentives shows that the US Government is definitely showing interest in CNG for vehicle fuel, and is not simply brushing things under the rug during the lame duck session of Congress. From US Gas Vehicles: December 21, 2010. Congress took an important step Thursday toward reducing Americas dependence on foreign oil by extending two key incentives for natural gas vehicles, says the president of Natural Gas Vehicles for America. Legislation extending incentives for natural gas vehicles is included in the H.R. 4853 the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010. The legislation extends through 2011: The 50-cent per gallon tax credit for compressed and liquefied natural gas when used as a vehicle fuel. This tax credit, which expired at the end of 2009, is retroactive for 2010. The investment tax credit for alternative vehicle refueling property, including natural gas stations. This covers 30% of the cost or USD 30.000, whichever is less. This credit also includes a USD 1.000 tax credit for a home refueling unit. At a time of very tight budgets, the inclusion of these tax incentives demonstrates Congress commitment to a growing natural gas vehicle industry, says Richard Kolodziej, president of NGVAmerica. Since natural gas vehicles reduce the use of foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gases and reduce air pollution, this legislation will help achieve all three of these national goals. And, importantly, this legislation will provide a significant boost to jobs throughout the natural gas vehicle field, not only in the production of natural gas but in the manufacture of the components that go into these vehicles, the manufacture of these vehicles, and the jobs that are created by building new natural gas stations. The natural gas vehicle tax credits, which expire at the end of the year, were not included in the legislation, but Kolodziej says the industry will work to reinstate them in the new Congress. Since federal incentives were introduced in 2006, vehicular natural gas usage has increased 25 percent each year, displacing more than 320 million gallons of gasoline. With the continuation of these incentives, NGVAmerica expects that rate to continue to grow.