Indian government has launched a national mission on bio-diesel development, planning to grow Jatropha on 13.4 million hectares of land, according to a seminar held here on Tuesday.

With the completion of the mission, bio-diesel derived from Jatropha seeds will account for 20 percent of all diesel consumption in the country finally.

Currently, 70 percent of India's energy relied on imported oil. Jatropha is considered as the most suitable alternative energy source because of its higher yield and can be easily grown on wasteland, according to experts.

The seminar "Bio-Diesel: energy security for the Nation" was organized by Institute of Applied Systems and Rural Development ( IASRD).

The seminar aims to discuss the issue thoroughly, from the planting of Jatropha, procurement of Jatropha seeds, processing of bio-diesel from Jatropha seeds to finally marketing of bio-diesel, according to the IASRD.

To encourage the producing of bio-diesel, Indian government announced Bio Diesel Purchase Policy in October 2005. Under the policy, all bio diesel produced which meet the standards would be purchased by the government at the price of 25 Rupees (0.58 U.S. dollars) per liter. Besides, the government has designated 20 locations all over the country for this purpose, said K.D. Gupta, Chairman of IASRD.

Source: Xinhua