Hiking bio-diesel prodn hinges on govt policy: Emami Agrotech

Emami Agrotech, a part of the Emami Group, today said it will expand its bio-diesel production capacity if the central government comes up with a clear policy on its usage.
"Emami Agrotech will expand its capacity provided there is a clear policy for mandatory usage of bio-diesel," Emami Group Director Aditya Agarwal told PTI.
At present, the bio-diesel production capacity at the company's Haldia plant is 300 tonnes a day (TPD) but it produces 100 TPD owing to lack of demand, Agarwal said, adding that if required, the company would expand the capacity to 1,000 TPD.
"This expansion will happen at an investment of around Rs 400 crore to Rs 500 crore either at its Haldia plant in West Bengal or Krishnapatnam plant in Andhra Pradesh", he informed.

In Europe, it is mandatory that seven per cent bio-diesel to be mixed with diesel, while in India there was no such policy, Agarwal said.
This, according to him, was causing under-utilisation of capacity across the country.

While the total production capacity of all units was 1,500 TPD, the combined production was only 500 TPD.
Agarwal further said that the company has got the approval from RDSO to supply bio-diesel to Indian Railways.
Besides, Emami Agrotech has also got the order to supply 11,000 tonnes of bio-diesel by March 2016, he said.
The company is also in talks with various state transport corporations for supplying bio-diesel to run their fleet.

The firm's current revenue from bio-diesel sales is Rs 70 crore per annum.