Karnataka - Bangalore   

‘Uncultivable land must be made available for bio-fuel production’

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Looking to the future: V. Balasubramanian, Chairman, BioDiesel Society of India and S. Ramanathan (right), Chairman, IIPA, Karnataka region, at the seminar in Bangalore on Saturday.

Bangalore: As India moves up the Global Hunger Index to 96th place and as pulse and food grain production stagnates, deriving bio-fuel from arable land would go against national food security, said V. Balasubramanian, Chairman of BioDiesel Society of India.

Speaking at a seminar on “Bio-fuel in the energy security of India”, organised here on Saturday by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (Karnataka branch), he said, “We should instead look at bio-fuel from non-edible oil seeds from uncultivable wasteland.”

Making a strong case for bio-fuel, Mr. Balasubramanian said that the country’s massive oil import bills leave him with “no doubt” that renewable energy such as fuel from biological sources must be encouraged.

“We import 72 per cent of oil, and our current import bill is Rs. 2.5 lakh crore. There are no two ways about the fact that land must be made available for bio-fuel development,” he said. “Bio-diesel from non-edible oilseeds like pongamia, honge, jatropha and castor, can meet the demand for diesel, which accounts for 40 per cent of oil imports.”

However, although the economic and ecological benefits of bio-fuel are well articulated, “there are difficulties in converting the promise of bio-fuel into practice,” said Sudhakar Rao, Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner.

Much of the estimated eight lakh hectares of “wasteland” in Karnataka, which is being looked upon for growing bio-fuel plants, is either not available, or not cultivable, he said. Mr. Rao also pointed out that the price of bio-diesel is higher than diesel in the market.

“For instance, while the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation offers a price of Rs. 33 for a litre of bio-diesel, the actual cost of producing it is Rs. 37,” he said. “It would require several successful projects to convince individual farmers to go in for bio-fuel plantations as commercial ventures,” he added.

Mr. Rao added that the State Government has been consistently increasing its focus on bio-fuel development in recognition of its potential. “Investments have grown from Rs. 25 lakh in 2004-2005 to Rs. 6 crore in 2006-2007.

This year, Rs. 4 crore has been sanctioned for the development of bio-fuel plantations in the State,” he said.

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