Which Hatchback Has the Lowest Running Cost on CNG in India? (2026)

The Maruti Baleno CNG with the AGS automatic has the lowest running cost of any CNG hatchback in India, at roughly ₹2.52 per kilometre on a CNG price of ₹87 per kg, from a certified 34.47 km/kg. The Maruti Celerio is a fraction behind at ₹2.53, and the Tata Altroz is the most expensive here at about ₹3.32 per km.

Every CNG hatchback is sold on the same promise of lower running costs than petrol. What rarely gets mentioned is how much that cost varies between them. Eight of the eleven cars here are Marutis running either the 998 cc K10C or the newer 1.2-litre Z-Series, and they cluster inside 14 paise per kilometre. The gap to everything else is far wider than the gap between any two of them.

This ranks every factory-fitted CNG hatchback in India by cost per kilometre, so the order reflects what each car actually costs to drive rather than a raw mileage number.

How these figures are calculated

Running cost per km is the CNG price per kilogram divided by the car's certified mileage in km/kg. Every figure here uses ₹87 per kg, a representative Delhi rate. CNG is priced by each city's distributor, so the rupee figures shift elsewhere, though the ranking will not. Retrofit conversions are excluded, since their mileage is not certified.

Key takeaways

• Maruti Baleno CNG AGS, ₹2.52 per km: the lowest running cost of any CNG hatchback in India, and the only automatic at the top of this table.
• Eight Marutis occupy the first eight places, all within 14 paise per km of each other. Below them the gap widens sharply.
• The Toyota Glanza sits ninth at ₹2.84, a clear 18 paise behind the nearest Maruti despite sharing its platform with the Baleno, because it has not moved to the newer Z-Series engine.
• An automatic gearbox improves CNG mileage on the Baleno, from 33.61 km/kg on the manual to 34.47 on the AGS.
• The three non-Maruti, non-Toyota cars all sit above ₹3.20 per km, roughly 25 per cent more than the leaders.

CNG hatchbacks ranked by running cost

Model	Mileage on CNG	Running cost	Gearbox
Maruti Baleno (CNG AGS)	34.47 km/kg	₹2.52/km	5-speed AGS
Maruti Celerio	34.43 km/kg	₹2.53/km	5-speed MT
Maruti Baleno (CNG manual)	33.61 km/kg	₹2.59/km	5-speed MT
Maruti WagonR	33.47 km/kg	₹2.60/km	5-speed MT
Maruti Alto K10	33.40 km/kg	₹2.60/km	5-speed MT
Maruti Swift	32.85 km/kg	₹2.65/km	5-speed MT or AGS
Maruti S-Presso	32.73 km/kg	₹2.66/km	5-speed MT
Toyota Glanza	30.61 km/kg	₹2.84/km	5-speed MT
Tata Tiago (AMT)	28.06 km/kg	₹3.10/km	5-speed AMT
Hyundai Grand i10 Nios	27 km/kg	₹3.22/km	5-speed MT
Tata Tiago (manual)	26.49 km/kg	₹3.28/km	5-speed MT
Tata Altroz	26.2 km/kg	₹3.32/km	5-speed MT or AMT
Where these numbers come from. The Maruti and Toyota mileage figures are read off those manufacturers' own current materials, including the Baleno brochure, which prints both CNG figures directly, and Maruti's own Swift page, which publishes a single 32.85 km/kg for the S-CNG with no separate automatic figure. Tata and Hyundai do not publish equivalent brochure specification tables, so the Tiago, Altroz and Grand i10 Nios figures are the best available published numbers.

What this costs over a year

At 15,000 km a year, the whole Maruti group sits within about ₹2,100 of each other, which is not enough to decide a purchase. The gap from the top of the table to the Altroz at the bottom is about ₹12,000, which is.

Model	Cost per km	10,000 km	15,000 km
Maruti Baleno CNG AGS	₹2.52	₹25,200	₹37,800
Maruti Swift	₹2.65	₹26,500	₹39,750
Toyota Glanza	₹2.84	₹28,400	₹42,600
Hyundai Grand i10 Nios	₹3.22	₹32,200	₹48,300
Tata Altroz	₹3.32	₹33,200	₹49,800

1. Maruti Baleno, ₹2.52 per km on AGS

Price: ₹7,92,400 for the Delta CNG, ₹8,32,400 for the Delta CNG with AGS, ₹8,92,400 for the Zeta CNG manual and ₹9,32,400 for the Zeta CNG with AGS, all ex-showroom.

The facelifted Baleno moved to Maruti's Z-Series engine and added a factory CNG automatic. That combination gives it the lowest running cost of any CNG hatchback sold here. Unusually, the automatic is the more efficient of the two gearboxes rather than the less.

Engine on CNG: 1.2-litre three-cylinder Z12E, 51.3 kW or 69.75 PS at 5,700 rpm and 101.8 Nm at 2,900 rpm.

Mileage: 34.47 km/kg on the AGS and 33.61 km/kg on the manual, both printed in Maruti's own brochure.

On petrol, for comparison: 23.80 km/l manual and 24.77 km/l AMT.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual or 5-speed AGS, both offered with CNG.

Warranty: 3 years or 100,000 km, extendable.

2. Maruti Celerio, ₹2.53 per km

Price: about ₹5.98 lakh ex-showroom, on the VXi CNG trim.

The Celerio is a single paisa per km behind the Baleno automatic and costs roughly ₹2.3 lakh less to buy, which makes it the value pick of this entire table. A 998 cc engine and a light kerb weight do most of the work.

Engine on CNG: 998 cc K10C.

Mileage: 34.43 km/kg.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual only.

3. Maruti WagonR, ₹2.60 per km

Price: about ₹5.94 lakh to ₹6.49 lakh ex-showroom across the LXi and VXi CNG trims.

The WagonR pairs a running cost within 8 paise of the leader with the largest boot of any hatchback here, which is the trade most buyers in this segment are actually making.

Engine on CNG: 998 cc K10C.

Mileage: 33.47 km/kg.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual only.

4. Maruti Alto K10, ₹2.60 per km

Price: about ₹4.84 lakh to ₹5.34 lakh ex-showroom across the LXi(O) and VXi(O) CNG trims.

The Alto K10 is among the two cheapest cars here to buy and still lands within a fraction of a paisa of the WagonR above it. It also carries 6 airbags as standard on every variant.

Engine on CNG: 998 cc K10C.

Mileage: 33.40 km/kg.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual only.

5. Maruti Swift, ₹2.65 per km

Price: about ₹7.57 lakh to ₹8.51 lakh ex-showroom for the CNG manual range, with the CNG AGS variants starting around ₹7.92 lakh.

The Swift added CNG AGS variants in September 2026, so it now offers a factory CNG automatic alongside the manual. Maruti publishes one mileage figure for the S-CNG, 32.85 km/kg, and has not published a separate number for the automatic, so both gearboxes are treated identically here.

Engine on CNG: 1.2-litre three-cylinder Z-Series.

Mileage: 32.85 km/kg.

On petrol, for comparison: 24.8 km/l manual and 25.75 km/l AMT.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual or 5-speed AGS, both offered with CNG.

6. Maruti S-Presso, ₹2.66 per km

Price: about ₹4.64 lakh to ₹5.14 lakh ex-showroom across the LXi(O) and VXi(O) CNG trims.

The S-Presso is the cheapest car on this list and closes out the Maruti group a single paisa behind the Swift.

Engine on CNG: 998 cc K10C.

Mileage: 32.73 km/kg.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual only.

Worth knowing: the S-Presso has two airbags, not six. It is the one Maruti hatchback that has not moved to six as standard, which is worth weighing against its price.

7. Toyota Glanza, ₹2.84 per km

Price: about ₹9.53 lakh ex-showroom for the CNG trim.

The Glanza shares a platform with the Baleno but not, currently, its engine. Toyota's car runs the older unit, and the 3.86 km/kg it gives up to the facelifted Baleno is the single largest step anywhere in the top nine of this table.

Engine on CNG: 1.2-litre four-cylinder.

Mileage: 30.61 km/kg.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual only.

8. Tata Tiago, ₹3.10 per km on AMT

Price: about ₹5.87 lakh to ₹8.90 lakh ex-showroom across the CNG range.

The Tiago is the first non-Maruti, non-Toyota car on this list, and the gap is immediate: even its more efficient AMT sits 26 paise per km behind the Glanza. Its twin-cylinder tank does preserve more boot space than a single large cylinder, which is a genuine practical advantage.

Engine on CNG: 1.2-litre three-cylinder, 75.5 PS and 96.5 Nm.

Mileage: 28.06 km/kg on the AMT and 26.49 km/kg on the manual.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual or AMT.

9. Hyundai Grand i10 Nios, ₹3.22 per km

Price: about ₹7.16 lakh to ₹8.46 lakh ex-showroom across the CNG range.

The Nios is the closest genuine competitor to Maruti on equipment, but its larger engine keeps its running cost well above every Maruti here. Hyundai has added a dual-cylinder Hy-CNG Duo layout designed to recover boot space.

Engine on CNG: 1.2-litre four-cylinder, 68.9 PS and 95.2 Nm.

Mileage: 27 km/kg.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual only.

10. Tata Altroz, ₹3.32 per km

Price: about ₹7.30 lakh to ₹10.90 lakh ex-showroom across the CNG range.

The Altroz has the highest running cost here, though it offsets that with the strongest safety credentials of any CNG hatchback in India and a dual-cylinder tank beneath the boot floor.

Engine on CNG: 1.2-litre three-cylinder, 73.5 PS and 103 Nm.

Mileage: 26.2 km/kg.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual or AMT.

Safety: Tata has confirmed a 5-star Bharat NCAP rating covering its petrol, diesel and CNG powertrains alike.

Conclusion

If running cost alone decides the purchase, the Baleno CNG AGS leads, with the Celerio a single paisa behind at roughly ₹2.3 lakh less to buy. That pairing is the real story of this table: the cheapest car to run and the best value are not the same car, and the difference between them over 15,000 km is about ₹150.

Below the Maruti group the gaps become real. The Glanza gives up 18 paise per km to the nearest Maruti on a shared platform, purely because it runs the older engine. The three remaining cars sit 25 per cent above the leaders, which over a year is roughly ₹12,000, enough to weigh against the boot space and safety advantages some of them carry.

FAQs

Which hatchback has the lowest running cost on CNG in India?

The Maruti Baleno with the AGS automatic, at roughly ₹2.52 per km, from a certified 34.47 km/kg.

Is a CNG automatic less efficient than a manual?

Not on the Baleno. Maruti's brochure puts the AGS at 34.47 km/kg against 33.61 for the manual, so the automatic is the more efficient of the two. Maruti publishes only one figure for the Swift S-CNG, 32.85 km/kg, covering both gearboxes.

Why do Maruti hatchbacks fill the top of this list?

Most run either the 998 cc K10C or the newer 1.2-litre Z-Series, both tuned for efficiency, which keeps their certified CNG mileage ahead of larger-engined rivals.

Why is the Toyota Glanza behind the Maruti Baleno if they share a platform?

They no longer share an engine. The facelifted Baleno moved to Maruti's Z-Series, and the Glanza has not, which accounts for the 3.86 km/kg between them.

Which CNG hatchbacks offer an automatic gearbox?

The Maruti Baleno and Swift offer AGS, and the Tata Tiago and Altroz offer AMT. The rest here are manual-only on CNG.