Hindustan Times
July 02, 2007
First Published: 02:46 IST(2/7/2007)
Last Updated: 02:51 IST(2/7/2007)
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1975: India begins examining the feasibility of blending ethanol with
petrol. Sets up 6 technical committees and 4 study groups.
1980: The Indian Oil Corporation conducts trials on 15 passenger cars &
21 two & three wheelers using 10% and 20% anhydrous ethanol blends.
2000: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas initiates pilot projects
in 3 Oil Depots (2 Maharashtra & 1 UP) covering 350 petrol stations to
study related aspects of blending ethanol with petrol and its use.
2002: The government mandates blending of 5% ethanol in nine states and
four union territories with a Rs 0.75 excise duty exemption. A Committee
on Development of Biofuels is constituted.
2003: The Committee recommends strengthening the ongoing programme of
blending of ethanol with petrol & launching a National Mission on
Biodiesel based on jatropha plantation. Meanwhile the National Auto Fuel
Policy recommends commercialisation of biofuel vehicles.
2004: Problems related to feedstock supply of molasses force the Indian
government to suspend mandatory blending of ethanol in petrol.
2005: The resurgence in sugar and molasses production results in renewed
interest in ethanol programme. The government fixes purchase price of
ethanol by oil companies at Rs 18.25 per litre.
2006: The government announces a Biodiesel Purchase Policy, fixing the
purchase price for oil companies at Rs 25 per litre. Intially, 5%
biodiesel is blended with diesel, with plans to extend the blending to 20%.
2007: The National Biofuels Draft Policy envisages utilisation of a wide
range of locally available bio-crops for production, setting up of a
National Biofuels Development Board and revising the indicative target
for 5% and 10 % biodiesel blending in diesel by 2012 and 2017
respectively. A Biofuels Mission focusing specifically on pongamia and
jatropha is also launched.
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Check for earlier Pacific Biofuel posts: http://pacbiofuel.blogspot.com/
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