BPCL to invest in biodiesel project

Bharat Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of state-owned oil company Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL), said it will invest Rs21.31 billion (US$435.36 million) in a biodiesel project using jatropha oil as feedstock in Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. According to Ashutosh Srivastava, chief operating officer of Bharat Renewable Energy, the company will first concentrate on five districts–Kanpur, Jhansi, Laltpur, Chitrakoot and Sultanpur. “We are shortly going to undertake large-scale plantation of jatropha across these five districts. Since the plant grows rapidly, we would be able to start extracting oil three years from now,” he said. He added that the company would install nearly 200 oil extraction units in these areas, where 10 refineries will be built. (February 3, 2009)