Rs 50 cr for bio-diesel panel

The Planning Commission had given an in-principle nod to allocating Rs 50 crore as part of the Rs 1,500-crore National Bio Diesel Mission, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said today.

The allocation has been made to the rural development ministry which would set up a departmental sanction committee (DSC), headed by the rural development secretary, he said at a conference on bio-diesel.

The DSC will prepare a report on the feasibility of the bio-diesel project. Once the project is cleared, it will be sent to the National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils Development Board (NOVOD).

Out of the Rs 50 crore that has been allocated, NOVOD will set up a jatropha curcas plantation in around 15,000 to 20,000 hectares. A jatropha curcas plantation yields one tonne seeds per hectare in its first year. In the subsequent years, the yield increases to around four tonnes per hectare.

"It is worth going ahead with the projects as the investments are less risky than drilling a new oil well," a senior Planning Commission official told Business Standard.

The agriculture ministry had also written letters to the Prime Minister's Office and the Planning Commission to give fast clearance to the Rs 1,500-crore project.

There are also plans to use non-edible oils such as karanj, jatropha curcas, neem, and mahua for making bio-diesel under the bio-diesel mission.

The petroleum ministry had earlier announced a policy to purchase jatropha curcas oil from producers at Rs 25 per litre.

The Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy plans to add one lakh MW of generation capacity from renewable energy by 2050.

"Around 20 per cent of the capacity to be added during the 10-year period of 10th and 11th plans will come from renewable sources," said Minister for Non-Conventional Energy Sources Vilas Muttemwar.

The ministry will shortly seek the Cabinet's approval for the national hydrogen energy roadmap.