India - Biodiesel policy announced

NEW DELHI: Beginning January 1 next year, the public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) will be purchasing bio-diesel (B100) at Rs. 25 a litre for blending with diesel (HSD) to the extent of 20 per cent in phases.

Unveiling the new bio-diesel purchase policy here on Thursday, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar said that to start with, five per cent of bio-diesel, a non-edible oil extracted from `Jatropha' and `Pongamia,' would be mixed with diesel during trial runs. At a later stage, in phases, the B100 blending with diesel is to be increased to 20 per cent. Mr Aiyar noted that automobile engines would not require any modification for using diesel doped with 20 per cent bio-diesel as fuel.

Only those bio-diesel manufacturers who get their samples approved and certified by the oil companies and get registered as authorised suppliers will be eligible for assured purchase of product, the new policy statement said.

Accordingly, starting January 1, 2006, the OMCs — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited — would purchase, through select purchase centres, bio-diesel that meets the fuel quality standards prescribed by the Bureau of Industrial Standards (BIS).

Te purchase centres are located at Ghatkesar in Andhra Pradesh (also for Jharkhand and Orissa); Mandirhasaud in Chhattisgarh; Bijwasan in Delhi; Kandla in Gujarat; Rewari in Haryana; Devanagunthi and Mangalore in Karnataka; Manmand, Borkhedi-Nagpur, Loni and Vashi in Maharashtra; Bhatinda in Punjab; Sanganer-Jaipur and Salawas in Rajasthan; Korrukupet, Chennai, Narimanam and Karur in Tamil Nadu; and Panki and Amausi-Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

The policy stipulates that the OMCs shall buy bio-diesel at a uniform price, as may be OMCs from time to time. "The initial purchase price of bio-diesel by the oil marketing companies will be Rs. 25 a litre,'' it said.