Govt launches Biodiesel mission by promoting Jatropha cultivation

New Delhi, Apr 28 (UNI) A Rs 1286.31 crore national mission on Biodiesel has been launched for cultivation of Jatropha and Karanj whose oil could be mixed with diesel to reduce the country's dependence on imported crude oil, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said today.

Dr Singh said at a press conference here that the Planning Commission has already given approval to the launching of the mission and it would be soon put before the Union Cabinet for its clearance.

Meanwhile, a demonstration project for promotion of Jatropha cultivation in four lakh hactares, of which two lakh hactares would be forest land and two lakh hactares non-forest wasteland, has been launched.

The total cost of the demonstration project is Rs 1286.31 crore, to be spent over five years. Already, an amount of Rs 49 crore has been allocated to nine states for promotion of Jatropha cultivation this year, he said.

These states would use the money for the development of Jatropha nurseries to provide quality seedlings for plantation in about 80,000 hectares during the current year, he added.

The governments of Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura and Assam have already started work on the Jatropha cultivation.

Chhatisgarh is leading in the field, with the state getting Rs 13.5 crore for Jatropha cultivation promotion, followed by Andhra Pradesh, receiving Rs 10.75 crore, and Tamil Nadu, at Rs 10.5 crore, he said and added that other state governments would also get the money for the project if they start work on it.

Pointing out that Jatropha has an advantage as it could be grown on wasteland without much irrigation and manure, it is not eaten by goats and the oil obtained from it does not produce any carbon, he said.

These qualities make it an ideal source for Biodiesel in India which has 55 million hectares of wasteland. The Biodiesel obtained from Jatropha could not only be mixed upto 5 per cent in diesel for running vehicles but also used for lighting, heating and other conventional energy uses, Dr Singh added.

He said that the Rural Development Ministry, which is the nodal ministry of the project, would take a pro-active and coordinating role in the processing namely expelling and transesterification of Jatropha oil while the oil companies under the instruction of Petroleum Ministry have started purchasing Biodiesel at Rs 25 per litre that translates to seed price of Rs 5 per kg to farmers.

Railways is also taking interest in plantation of Jatropha on its vacant wasteland.

Biodiesel is an eco-friendly and cheaper source of fuel and the government would take a major initiative to produce and promote its use, he said.

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