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

The Maruti Fronx has the lowest running cost of any CNG SUV in India, at roughly ₹3.05 per kilometre on a CNG price of ₹87 per kg. The Tata Nexon is the most expensive to run at about ₹3.63 per km. Across the eight factory CNG SUVs on sale the spread is 58 paise per km, which works out to about ₹5,800 over 10,000 km, and almost all of it comes from the one turbocharged car at the bottom.

A mileage figure on its own does not tell you what a car costs to run. Two SUVs less than a km/kg apart look nearly identical on a spec sheet, but because CNG costs the same per kilogram whichever car is filling up, a mileage difference converts directly into a per-kilometre gap rather than washing out.

This piece works out the actual cost per kilometre for every factory-fitted CNG SUV sold in India, ranks them cheapest to most expensive, and finishes with the comparison that usually matters more: what the same car would cost to run on petrol.

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 separately by each city's distributor, so the rupee figures will shift outside Delhi, though the ranking between these cars will not.

Key takeaways

• Maruti Fronx, ₹3.05 per km: cheapest to run by 16 paise per km, and cheapest to buy of the Marutis here.
• Six cars land inside 6 paise of each other. From the Exter at ₹3.21 to the Grand Vitara and Hyryder at ₹3.27, running cost will not meaningfully separate them.
• Tata Nexon, ₹3.63 per km: the only car above ₹3.30, and the only turbocharged CNG SUV in India.
• Price and running cost move in opposite directions. The two most expensive SUVs here, the Grand Vitara and Hyryder, tie for the second-highest running cost despite a roughly ₹1.1 lakh gap between them.
• Against petrol, every one of these saves roughly half. The gap between CNG and petrol is far larger than any gap within this table.

CNG SUVs ranked by running cost

Model (CNG trim)	Mileage	Running cost	Price
Maruti Fronx (Delta CNG)	28.51 km/kg	₹3.05/km	₹8.74 lakh
Hyundai Exter (SX(O) CNG)	27.1 km/kg	₹3.21/km	₹9.40 lakh
Maruti Victoris (ZXi CNG)	27.02 km/kg	₹3.22/km	₹14.82 lakh
Tata Punch (Pure Plus CNG)	26.99 km/kg	₹3.22/km	₹8.10 lakh
Maruti Brezza (ZXi CNG)	26.90 km/kg	₹3.23/km	₹11.55 lakh
Maruti Grand Vitara (Zeta CNG)	26.6 km/kg	₹3.27/km	₹14.60 lakh
Toyota Hyryder (G CNG)	26.6 km/kg	₹3.27/km	about ₹15.72 lakh
Tata Nexon (Fearless+ CNG)	24 km/kg	₹3.63/km	₹13.72 lakh
Prices are ex-showroom Delhi. The Maruti and Toyota mileage figures are read off those manufacturers' own current brochures, and the Fronx and Victoris prices off the NEXA and Arena price pages. Toyota publishes no ex-showroom prices in India, so the Hyryder price is dealer-listed. Tata and Hyundai do not publish equivalent specification tables, so the Punch, Nexon and Exter figures are the best available published numbers.

What this costs over a year

At 15,000 km a year, the difference between the top and bottom of this table is about ₹8,700. Between the Fronx and the middle of the pack it is closer to ₹2,600, and between third place and sixth it is about ₹750, which is less than a single tank.

Model	Cost per km	10,000 km	15,000 km
Maruti Fronx	₹3.05	₹30,500	₹45,750
Maruti Victoris	₹3.22	₹32,200	₹48,300
Maruti Brezza	₹3.23	₹32,300	₹48,450
Grand Vitara and Hyryder	₹3.27	₹32,700	₹49,050
Tata Nexon	₹3.63	₹36,300	₹54,450

The comparison that matters more

Choosing between these eight on running cost is close to a coin toss outside the two extremes. Choosing between CNG and petrol is not.

Take the Maruti Brezza, which sells with both. On CNG it returns 26.90 km/kg, giving ₹3.23 per km at ₹87 per kg. The same car's 1.5-litre petrol automatic is certified at 20.17 km/l, which at a representative Delhi petrol price of ₹95 per litre works out to about ₹4.71 per km. That is a saving of roughly ₹1.48 per km, or about ₹22,000 over 15,000 km, from the same car with the same engine.

The pattern holds across the list. Every CNG SUV here costs between ₹3.05 and ₹3.63 per km to run, while their petrol equivalents sit between roughly ₹4.30 and ₹5.40. The decision worth spending time on is CNG or petrol. The decision between one CNG SUV and another is mostly a decision about everything except fuel.

1. Maruti Fronx, ₹3.05 per km

Price: ₹8.74 lakh ex-showroom for the Delta CNG. Sigma CNG is ₹7.94 lakh and returns the same mileage, so the same running cost.

The Fronx leads on both counts, cheapest to buy among the Marutis here and cheapest to run overall, which is unusual on a list where those two normally pull apart.

Engine on CNG: 77.5 PS at 6,000 rpm, 98.5 Nm at 4,300 rpm from the 1.2-litre K-Series.

Mileage: 28.51 km/kg.

Features: 6 airbags standard with ESP and hill-hold, automatic climate control, rear parking sensors, 60:40 split-folding rear seat.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual.

2. Hyundai Exter, ₹3.21 per km

Price: about ₹9.40 lakh ex-showroom for the SX(O) CNG.

The Exter is the closest challenger and runs the smallest engine on this list. Its dual-cylinder Hy-CNG layout is what lets Hyundai keep an underbody spare wheel.

Engine on CNG: 68 PS at 6,000 rpm, 95.2 Nm at 4,000 rpm.

Mileage: 27.1 km/kg.

Features: touchscreen with wireless smartphone mirroring, 6 airbags standard, stability control, hill-start assist.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual.

3. Maruti Victoris, ₹3.22 per km

Price: ₹14.82 lakh ex-showroom for the ZXi CNG. LXi CNG is ₹11.55 lakh.

The Victoris runs within a paisa of the Tata Punch below it despite costing nearly ₹7 lakh more, which is the clearest illustration on this list that purchase price and running cost are unrelated.

Engine on CNG: 87.8 PS at 5,500 rpm, 121.5 Nm at 4,200 rpm.

Mileage: 27.02 km/kg.

Features: 17.78 cm touchscreen with wireless smartphone mirroring, wireless charging, rear camera, tyre pressure monitoring, 6 airbags with ESP and hill-hold. The tank sits under the body rather than in the boot.

Safety: 5-star Bharat NCAP at 31.66 of 32 adult and 43 of 49 child occupant protection, plus a separate 5-star Global NCAP result for both.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual.

4. Tata Punch, ₹3.22 per km

Price: about ₹8.10 lakh ex-showroom for the Pure Plus CNG.

The Punch is the cheapest car on this list to buy and lands mid-pack on running cost, three-hundredths of a km/kg behind the Victoris. It is also the only CNG SUV in India offered with an automatic, on its higher AMT trims.

Engine on CNG: 72 PS at 6,000 rpm, 103 Nm at 3,500 rpm.

Mileage: 26.99 km/kg.

Features: touchscreen with wireless smartphone mirroring, rear parking camera, cruise control, 6 airbags with stability control.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual on this trim, AMT higher in the range.

5. Maruti Brezza, ₹3.23 per km

Price: ₹11.55 lakh ex-showroom for the ZXi CNG, the top of three CNG trims.

A single paisa per km behind the Punch, which over 15,000 km is about ₹150. The Brezza is the only car here whose CNG trim carries an electric sunroof, and the only one with a six-speed gearbox on gas.

Engine on CNG: 87.8 PS at 5,500 rpm, 121.5 Nm at 4,200 rpm.

Mileage: 26.90 km/kg.

Features: single-pane electric sunroof, 17.78 cm touchscreen with wireless smartphone mirroring, automatic climate control with rear AC vents, wireless charging, 6 airbags with stability control.

Gearbox: 6-speed manual.

6. Maruti Grand Vitara and Toyota Hyryder, ₹3.27 per km

Price: about ₹14.60 lakh for the Grand Vitara Zeta CNG and about ₹15.72 lakh for the Hyryder G CNG.

These two tie exactly, because they are the same car with the same engine built on the same line. They are the largest bodies here and the most expensive to buy, and they sit at the expensive end of the running-cost table too.

Engine on CNG: 87.8 PS at 5,500 rpm, 121.5 Nm at 4,200 rpm.

Mileage: 26.6 km/kg each.

Grand Vitara features: 22.86 cm touchscreen, wireless charging, automatic climate control with rear AC vents, cruise control, 6 airbags with stability control. No ADAS on any trim.

Hyryder features: 22.86 cm touchscreen, panoramic sunroof, wireless charging, ventilated front seats, automatic climate control, cruise control, 6 airbags. The G grade is the better equipped of Toyota's two CNG trims.

Gearbox: 5-speed manual on both.

7. Tata Nexon, ₹3.63 per km

Price: about ₹13.72 lakh ex-showroom for the Fearless+ CNG.

The Nexon is the only car on this list that meaningfully breaks the pattern. At 36 paise per km more than the Grand Vitara it costs about ₹5,400 more over 15,000 km, which is a real number rather than a rounding difference, and it buys 12 PS and a turbocharger for it.

Engine on CNG: 100 PS and 170 Nm from the 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol, with a twin-cylinder tank rated at 60 litres or 9 kg.

Mileage: 24 km/kg.

Features: 10.25-inch touchscreen with wireless smartphone mirroring, 360-degree camera, automatic climate control, 6 airbags with stability control.

Gearbox: 6-speed manual.

Conclusion

Running cost splits this list into three tiers rather than eight evenly spaced figures: one car that is genuinely cheaper to run, a middle group of six that are close enough that fuel will not decide between them, and one turbocharged outlier at the top.

The more useful comparison sits outside the table. Every car here runs at roughly two-thirds of what the same vehicle costs on petrol, and that gap dwarfs the 58 paise separating the best and worst CNG SUV. Once a buyer has decided on CNG, the remaining fuel-cost difference is small enough that boot space, safety credentials and which features the gas trim actually gets should carry more weight.

CNG prices shift periodically and vary by city, so it is worth checking the local rate before treating any of these per-kilometre figures as fixed. The relative order will hold even when the underlying price moves.

FAQs

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

The Maruti Fronx, at roughly ₹3.05 per km on a CNG price of ₹87 per kg, thanks to its 28.51 km/kg certified mileage.

How is CNG running cost calculated?

Divide the CNG price per kilogram by the car's certified mileage in km/kg. Higher mileage lowers the cost per kilometre directly, assuming the same price at the pump.

Does a cheaper SUV always cost less to run?

No. The Tata Punch is the cheapest car here to buy but sits fourth on running cost, while the Grand Vitara and Hyryder are the most expensive to buy and second-most expensive to run.

How much does CNG actually save against petrol?

On the Brezza, which sells with both, CNG works out to about ₹3.23 per km against roughly ₹4.71 for the petrol automatic, a saving of about ₹22,000 over 15,000 km from the same car.

Does CNG price vary by city?

Yes. Each city's gas distributor sets its own rate, so the rupee figures here shift outside Delhi even though the ranking between these cars does not.