Establishing CNG stations would increase tourist footfall in HP Tourism body prez

Shimla, Apr 3 (PTI) Establishing compressed natural gas (CNG) stations would increase tourist footfall in Himachal Pradesh, Shimla Hotel and Tourism Stakeholders' Association President M K Seth said on Thursday.
     There are CNG stations in places such as Hamirpur, Una, Shimla, Mandi, and Solan and the state cabinet had approved nine filling stations in November 2024 in Solan, Shimla, Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu, Lahaul spiti, Kinnaur districts but the process should be expedited to open the CNG filling station on priority, he said.
     Talking to the PTI, Seth said the CNG is about 40 per cent cheaper than petrol and is more fuel efficient and less costly and increasing the number of CNG stations would increase tourist footfall in the state.
     He added that trip cost for tourists would drop with a decrease in travel expenses and people with CNG vehicles in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi will be inclined to visit the state, especially on weekends.
     The average occupancy in Shimla has dropped from 3.8 days a week in the 1970s to 1.7 days now and steps are needed to attract tourists to the hill station, he added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)