National Dailies

The Planning Commission had given an in-principle nod to allocate Rs 50 crore for setting up of a departmental sanction committee (DSC), Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said today. The allocation is part of the Rs 1,500 crore National Bio Diesel Mission.

The allocation had been made to the rural development ministry and the DSC would be 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 on 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 tones 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.