Govt moots large-scale plantation of bio-diesel on wasteland

The national policy on biofuels, approved by the Cabinet last week would encourage bio-diesel plantations on wastelands, said Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Vilas Muttemwar.     

Bio-diesel production will be taken up from non-edible oilseeds in waste or degraded marginal lands. An indicative target of 20 per cent by year 2017 for blending of biofuels namely bio-ethanol and bio-diesel has been proposed, Muttemwar said.Oil marketing companies will have to purchase bio-ethanol at a Minimum Purchase Price (MPP) based on actual cost of production and import price of bio-ethanol, he said.     
In case of bio-diesel, MPP should be linked to prevailing retail diesel price, he added.     
The policy also envisages that the two be brought under the ambit of declared goods by the government to ensure unrestricted movement of biofuels and outside the states, Muttemwar said.     

Adding further Muttemwar said, focus would be on indigenous production of bio-diesel feedstock and import of free fatty acid (ffa) based oils and palms would not be permitted.     

The draft prepared by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy was considered by a Group of Ministers (GoM) chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and other Planning Commission members before recommending it to the Cabinet.