Uttarakhand to Replicate Kiwi biofuel experiment

Ruchi Soya, an oilseed company, with a Rs 13,000-crore turnover, wants to replicate the experiment done by New Zealand — of using biodiesel as an alternative green fuel from Jatropha plants, to successfully fly airplanes.

For this purpose, the Indore-headquartered company has already acquired Uttaranchal Biodiesel Ltd, an Uttarakhand government’s joint venture company to promote cultivation of Jatropha plants for extracting biodiesel in the hill state.

The company is currently holding talks with the state government for the revival of a biodiesel plant at Roorkee area of Haridwar district.

Uttaranchal Biodiesel Ltd, which was acquired by Ruchi Soya for Rs 30 crore, has been lying defunct since its inception in 2004, following an alleged scandal that rocked the state in the past over the plantation of jatropha. Under the joint venture, the plant was set up near Roorkee area for producing biodiesel from jatropha, which was to be cultivated at two lakh hectares of degraded/waste land in the state.

But, after cultivating over 20,000 hectares of Jatropha plantation till 2007 and spending nearly Rs 20 crore, the plantation process remained buried merely in files. Even the Uttarakhand Bio-fuel Board, which was set up by the government, to promote plantation of jatropha, could not take off.

“We have now a very good example in front of us in form of New Zealand where even jet planes are being flown with the help of biodiesel from Jatropha. So the government must appreciate our plans to revive the plant,” said a top official of the Ruchi Soya company.

The Jatropha scam, where plantation worth Rs 8-10 crore allegedly went wasted, is part of the 56 alleged scandals of the previous Congress government which are being probed by a judicial commission since 2007. The commission was set up by Chief Minister B C Khanduri.

“We are holding talks with Ruchi Soya for reviving the Uttarakhand Biodiesel plant,” confirmed a government official. The company has also approached Khanduri for the revival of the biodiesel plant in the interest of the state as it sees a tremendous scope for generating additional employment in the bio-fuel sector.