Bangladesh Industrial Technical Assistance Centre has undertaken a plan to manufacture three-wheeler CNG-driven auto rickshaws at home. For the first time, the country is going to produce the motorised CNG-run auto-rickshaw using the local expertise and spare parts aimed at replacing the city’s non-motorised rickshaws, considered as one of the worst reasons for nagging gridlock in the capital.
BITAC, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Industries, prepared a nine-year project proposal involving an initial amount of Tk 26.84 million for producing such an easy-going passenger vehicle. ‘Now the project awaits approval of the Ministry of Industries,’ director general of BITAC Ashish Kumar Paul told the news agency on Monday. He said the main objective of the project was to phase out non-motorised rickshaws in phases and put in operation an alternative mode of transportation with a rehabilitation option for the rickshaw pullers.
The BITAC chief, however, made it clear that the rickshaw pullers would get training on technical know-how with soft-loans to help them take up an alternative mode of transportation to earn their livelihood. Referring to the poor condition of a sizeable number of motorised vehicles on the city streets, Paul said most of the vehicles of such nature burn much fuel while stranded in traffic jam, contributing pollution enormously into the air to jeopardise the environment.
He, however, claimed that the existing intolerable gridlock could be reduced to a larger extent besides saving a huge sum of foreign currency when the 3W CNG-driven auto rickshaws would be marketed on commercial basis. The large-scale manufacture of the 3W CNG-run rickshaws will be done with the use of small and medium workshops located in the city’s Dholaikhal, a hub of the country’s potential light engineering workshops.
Asked why the local light engineering workshops have been chosen for manufacturing the 3W CNG-run auto rickshaws instead of imports, Dr Ihsanul Karim, additional director of BITAC, said some of these workshops had a good setup and expertise also in manufacturing three-wheeler automobile parts. ‘There is no alternative to promoting the local SMEs to further hasten the countrywide industrialization process’ said Dr Karim with the hope that the new venture would contribute a lot in easing the traffic movement in the city.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology will be given the responsibility to carry out a design task following the ministry’s approval to start the project, he said. Dr Karim also said that an initial estimation of Tk 2.50 lakh might be charged for each 3W CNG-run auto rickshaw equipped with locally-produced sustainable light and medium industries. ‘Such an auto-rickshaw with sub-standard spare parts is being purchased in some local markets at over Tk 3.50 lakh,’ he said. Approximately 2,000 3W CNG-driven rickshaws could be produced every year depending on availability of local light and medium industries, said Dr Karim.
