Biofuel Must for India, Say Experts

Energy-starved India should invest in spurring large-scale cultivation of jatropha, a plant with seeds that can be mixed with fuel to form biodiesel, experts said Monday.

Two key issues restraining the growth of the Indian biofuel industry were lack of sufficient government encouragement and limited availability of feedstock like jatropha and pongamia, said a study released at a workshop by Frost and Sullivan, a global growth consultant company.
India’s biodiesel production is currently a few thousand metric tons against a demand of 2.6 million metric tons, at a five percent blending level with normal diesel fuel, Mark Dougan, a company consultant said.

India needs to promote jatropha cultivation more aggressively, said Sandeep Chaturvedi, president of the Biodiesel Association of India. The plant grows in arid terrain and doesn’t need regular irrigation.

The experts said that the Indian government’s decision last year to spend 500 million rupees ($10.7 million) to boost jatropha cultivation was not enough.

The government should reduce excise duties to boost the country’s biofuel industry, Doughan said, adding that it could also enact a law making it mandatory for oil companies to sell a certain percentage of biofuels.

With India’s economy growing at more than 9 percent annually over the next few years, the country’s energy demand is expected to grow exponentially.

Forbes