It was in January this year when India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki introduced the all-new WagonR. While it had a number of variants in its portfolio, none of them had a factory-fitted CNG on offer. That scenario has now changed. The new WagonR is now available with a CNG kit in two trims – Lxi and Lxi (O). While the former wears a price tag of Rs 4.84 lakh, the latter is Rs 5,000 dearer. Compared to the Lxi petrol-only variant, the one with the CNG is Rs 65,000 pricier.

Maruti Suzuki is offering the CNG kit only with the smaller of the two engines – the 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder mill. With it being fed with petrol, it is tuned to produce 68PS/90Nm. Predictably, those figures are bit lower when the engine does its thing with CNG – 59PS/78Nm. However, where the petrol-only configuration returns a mileage of 22.5kmpl, the CNG takes that figure up to 33.54km/kg. The engine is, in fact, the same one that did its job in the previous-gen WagonR. In the Lxi trim, it is available only with a 5-speed manual transmission.

As far as features are concerned, the Maruti Suzuki WagonR CNG gets the same set as the entry-level petrol-only trim. The list includes front power windows, manual AC with heater, a 12V accessory socket, headlamp on warning and gear shift indicator. Being a modern Maruti Suzuki product, basic safety gizmos such as driver’s side airbag, speed alert warning system, rear parking sensors and seatbelt reminder with a buzzer are part of the package.

The Maruti Suzuki WagonR CNG competes directly with the Hyundai Santro CNG. What’s more, the Santro’s entry-level CNG-powered variant is Rs 5.24 lakh which, to the uninitiated, might seem a win-win situation for the Maruti product. But, unlike the WagonR, the Santro CNG is available in the middle-level trims which get more equipment as standard when compared to WagonR’s Lxi trim.

Note: All prices are ex-showroom Delhi.