Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will kick-off a massive energy conservation drive on Saturday with the launch of an insurance scheme for auto and taxi drivers using environment-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) as fuel in Mumbai."The Prime Minister has directed that we should make efforts to have a public awareness campaign on conservation," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, who held a 20-minute one-on-one discussion with Singh last evening, said today.Deora said the Mahasuraksha insurance scheme where all taxi/auto drivers plying CNG vehicles would be covered against death or permanent disability arising out of accident caused while driving a CNG taxi/rickshaw would be launched with the objective of promoting use of CNG instead of diesel. "CNG is a cheaper and cleaner fuel than diesel," Deora said.The nominee would get Rs 1 lakh in case of death or a proportionate amount in case of disability.The government also plans to approach Asian Development Bank (ADB) for funds to convert the entire transport fleet in Mumbai to CNG. ADB had earlier funded a similar project for Delhi.Use of CNG by buses and taxi/auto in Delhi has lead to a reduction in diesel consumption by about one million tonne."We want to extend the CNG network beyond Delhi and Mumbai to other cities, and also plan to launch similar insurance scheme in other places," Deora said.
