Biodiesel Asso demands tax breaks to make India global leader

New Delhi, Dec 5 (UNI) The Biodiesel Association of India (BAI) today demanded tax sops and incentives from the Central Government in the next five-year plan to boost the cultivation and processing of agricultural produce like jatropha.

''The biodiesel industry needs some tax breaks to make it a good investment sector and encourage large-scale jatropha cultivation,'' BAI President Sandeep Chaturvedi told reporters here.

He said for sustaining the rapid growth of 10 per cent GDP growth, energy security needs to be ensured through a silent revolution in the form of biofuels.

''Currently, we are seriously short of energy and our dependence on imported crude is rising,'' Mr Chaturvedi said.

He said the investment of Rs 50,000 crore would generate 11 million litres of biodiesel by the end of 2010, thereby saving Rs 25,300 crore foreign exchange annually.

Mr Chaturvedi said it would take another five years before biodiesel from jatropha would be available.

He emphasised on the non-edible oil and fatty-acids to make biodiesel till the jatropha availability is made, adding that the industry is looking forward to Malaysia, Indonesia, US and Brazil for fatty-acids.

However, the Central Government has plans to replace around 5 per cent of country's current 40 million tonnes of annual diesel consumption with jatropha biodiesel within the next 5 years.

Presently, the industry has to give altogether 31 per cent tax under different levies on import of raw materials for making biodiesel, Mr Chaturvedi added.

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