To help clear the city's air of pollution, especially on account of emissions from auto-rickshaws, the state government has mooted a proposal for the replacement of all diesel-run auto-rickshaws. The proposal at present is still being discussed. Auto rickshaws, if the proposal materialises at all, will henceforth run either on compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). According to the initial discussions held between the transport department, environment department, bank authorities and the auto-rickshaw unions, a subsidy of Rs 10,000 will be provided by the state government, while another Rs 10,000 will be borne by the operator and the remaining cost will be provided as loan by the banks. A fund of Rs 2 crore has also been allotted to the state transport department for this purpose. When asked, the state environment minister, Mr Sailen Sarkar said: "We are still in the discussion stages and the details of the proposal are being worked out. Nothing has been finalised as of yet.' Meanwhile, Mr ML Meena, principal secretary, environment department, pointed out that in an earlier move, Rs 4,000 was to be provided as subsidy for converting diesel run auto-rickshaws into LPG. "However, we dropped the idea when we found that the auto rickshaws despite conversion could run on diesel. Hence, we opted for a replacement of the diesel run auto-rickshaws rather than conversion,' he said.