Chhattisgarh jatropha plan derailed

Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh said that commercial production of bio-diesel in Chhattisgarh would start once the production of jatropha seeds increased in the state.

"The only bio-diesel production plant set up near the state capital is for demonstration. It has produced 2494 litres of bio-diesel so far," Dr Singh said in the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha.

Once the production of jatropha seeds increased, the state would start the commercial production to become the bio-fuel model state in the country.

Besides delegates from different countries, representatives of 26 states and experts from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur have visited the plant so far and studied the process of producing bio-fuel, Dr Singh said.

The state government had set a target to produce 200 million saplings of jatropha in the current financial year.

As of now, 180 million saplings had been produced in different nurseries of the department of forests, the chief minister said.

Dr Singh said the state government had taken up extensive programme to promote the cultivation of jatropha in the state.

Under the policy drafted by the government, it would provide 500 jatropha saplings free of cost to any farmer interested in taking up its cultivation.