Biodiesel joint venture with Shapoorji fuels BPCL

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) rose 2.51 per cent to close at Rs 345.55 on Tuesday on reports that the firm plans to produce 1 million tonnes of biodiesel by 2015 at an investment of Rs 2,200 crore. The company has formed a JV, Bharat Renewable Energy, in partnership with Nandan Biomatrix and Shapoorji Pallonji & Co for the biodiesel foray.

BPCL has undertaken its first project in UP, with plans to plant jatropha on 1 million acres of wasteland. The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 349.90 and a low of Rs 324. A total of 1,38,344 shares changed hands on Tuesday (half its two-week average volume).