The biofuel industry is finding it tough to remain in business, with both government pricing and raw material availability working against them.
The government, on its part, has launched a massive programme to develop high-yielding varieties of jatropha, a plant that can grow in wastelands across India, to meet the severe raw material shortage for the green fuel industry.
After what seems a failed experiment of Tughlaqian proportions that saw the Indian railways spending several lakhs on planting crores of jatropha trees along its railway tracks, the ministry appears to have junked jatropha for producing bio-fuel.
'A quantum of 135 million litre ethanol is being produced from six sugar factories of the State annually. This is being used with petrol as a fuel. There is a target of increasing the use of ethenal to 10 per cent in the State by the end of next year,' said State Bio-fuel Task Force President Y B Ramakrishna.
''What the scientists are saying about global warming and the glaciers in North and South Poles melting and raising the sea level is all bull****!,'' observed Medical Education Minister Ramachandra Gowda here on Thursday.
