Jatropha Revolution in India

President Dr Abdul Kalam is a strong advocate of jatropha biodiesel. In a speech in 2006, he said out of the 60 million hectares of wasteland available in India, over 30 million ha are suitable for jatropha cultivation.

Recently, the State Bank of India provided a further boost to the cultivation of jatropha by signing a memorandum of understanding with D1 Mohan to give loans totalling Rs 1.3 billion to local farmers in India, to be paid back with the money that D1 Mohan pays for the harvested jatropha seeds.

The Indian Railways have started to use jatropha oil blended with diesel to power its diesel engines with great success.

Many Indian states have already jumped onto the jatropha train, including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Jatropha has been held up as a reliable source of income for India’s poor rural farmers, providing energy self-sufficiency, while reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Several states have distributed plants free of charge to small farmers, encouraging private investment in jatropha plantations and setting up biodiesel processing plants. The ministry of rural development, which is to coordinate the national mission on biofuel when it is approved, estimates that there are already between 500 000 to 600 000 ha of jatropha growing across India.

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posted by Sudha @ 11:04 PM