By IANS
New Delhi : The government-owned State Trading Corp (STC) plans to foray into bio-fuel production, it said Tuesday.
“The company has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an unidentified Indian firm for jointly undertaking breeding and cultivation of jatropha plants and identification of micro-algae, both of which are rich sources of raw material used for production of bio-diesel,” STC said in a statement.
“Under the terms of the MoU, STC will arrange sale of all jatropha planting material and related services to the partner company,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the STC is also looking to forge tie-ups with bio-diesel plants. The company has already short-listed bio-diesel plants for discussion in this regard.
According to industry experts, micro-algae, a new and alternative source of feedstock, has the potential to dramatically boost the production of bio-diesel and greatly expand the fledgling industry.
The use of micro-algae for bio-diesel is particularly attractive because it is up to 30 times more efficient in producing oil for bio-diesel than conventional methods, said experts.
Besides, micro-algae can be cultured in poor quality salty water or nutrient loaded water.
Big Indian business enterprises like state-owned refining majors Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and private players such as Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd are already active in the bio-fuel industry.
Among states, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh are the leading players in production and consumption of bio-fuels.
The union government has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) under the chairmanship of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to formulate policy guidelines to promote the use of bio-fuels like bio-diesel and ethanol.
The GoM is expected to finalise policy formulation soon with a view to giving a big boost to the domestic bio-fuel industry.