Free Flow

Calcutta, May 8: The government is likely to announce a comprehensive policy regarding the use of 20 per cent bio-diesel blend as an alternate fuel in the country by August. The Planning Commission has already submitted a detailed report to the ministry of rural development, the nodal ministry, which will now work towards placing the proposals before the cabinet.

Says R. Mandal, adviser, Planning Commission, ?The use of bio-diesel blends will result in a savings of Rs 20,000 crore annually on imports of crude oil. We are planning to produce 13 million tonnes of alternate fuel every year. However, this will require 11 million hectares of land and create 11 million jobs.?

Jatropha has been identified as the most suitable tree-borne oilseed (TBO) for the production of bio-diesel because of its ability to thrive under a variety of geo-climatic conditions, low gestation period and high seed yield.

?The land to be cultivated has already been identified and private oil companies are expected to enter into buyback arrangements with farmers,? he added.

Around 10 lakh hectares of land across the country has been identified for Jatropha plantation. This will require a funding of Rs 6000 crore and generate 6,000 lakh mandays of employment.

India imports more than 70 per cent of its crude petroleum needs. With its vast wastelands, and the global community increasingly rooting for alternate fuels, India could well become the global sourcing hub for both feedstock and processed bio-diesel. The industry is expected to be a $2-billion revenue earner within the next three years.

?Bio-diesel processing cost in India is almost one-third of that in European countries and the US,? says C. S. Jadhav, director (marketing) of Hyderabad-based Nandan Biomatrix, one of the first companies carrying out extensive research in bio-diesel. ?Extracting bio-diesel in Europe costs around 0.799 euro while it costs between Rs 15 and Rs 17 in India,? Jadhav added.