National Dailies

THE Minister of Rural Development, Mr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, has said the national mission on bio-diesel has got the in-principle nod of the Planning Commission.

The Rural Development Ministry will be the nodal ministry for implementing the programme, which is expected to start in 2006-07, he said at the third International Conference on Biofuels organised by Winrock International India.

Mr Singh said the Internal Finance Committee is expected to meet on January 25 to discuss the project structure.

"Production and development of bio-diesel as a long-term alternative to conventional hydrocarbons has immense potential in view of the prospects available for the development of indigenous pungamia and exotic jatropha in the country," the Minister said.

The subject was first discussed in the Planning Commission and an inter-ministerial committee was set up by the Commission in 2002 to explore and advise on the prospects of use of bio-fuels for commercial utilisation, he added.

The National Mission on Bio-diesel is proposed to be implemented in two phases. The first phase will involve a demonstration stage for plantation of jatropha on four lakh hectares, and associated research activities for establishing the commercial viability of the fuel. Phase two will involve self-sustaining expansion of the bio-diesel programme.

The overall objective of the national mission is to promote the creation of national infrastructure for production of bio-diesel through cultivation of jatropha plant and processing of its oil, the Minister said.

The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, said his Ministry was committed to lending support to the proposed mission activities for blending bio-diesel in diesel and marketing such blended fuels.

The total involvement of Panchayati Raj institutions as the pivot of the programme needs to be recognised to ensure its success, he added.

On the recently announced bio-diesel purchase policy, the Minister said that with effect from January 1, 2006, public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) would purchase bio-diesel at a uniform price through select purchase centres if it meets the fuel quality standard prescribed of the Bureau of Industrial Standards.