India’s Reliance Group to enter biofuel sector

India’s Reliance Group is planning to enter the biofuels sector through its Mumbai-based Reliance Life Sciences (RLS). The company will produce biodiesel from jatropha plant extracts and research is being conducted to enhance the oil content from jatropha seeds by making use of transgenic technologies. RLS has started a biodiesel pilot plant having a capacity of 6,500 tons per year (tpy) at Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. The company has also started farms for conducting experiments in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The pilot plant will involve feeding of 100,000 tpy biodiesel plant by cultivating biodiesel clusters. (July 24, 2008)