JAIPUR: Biofuel authority of Rajasthan, with the help of Indian Railways, is planning to establish a biofuel processing plant in Rajasthan, with ‘buy back assurance’, which means that the processed fuel will be bought by the railways.The plant will have the capacity of eight tonne per day (TPD) and will cost about Rs 5 crore. The biofuel authority has decided to tie up with the railways as for many years, the state did not have its own processing unit.As much as 50 hectares of land in Gogunda, Udaipur, has been identified for establishing the ‘Centre of Excellence for Development of Biofuel’, but due to paucity of funds, the plan was not being implemented. As per the officials of the biofuel authority of Rajasthan, many requests for the funds have been sent to the government, but nothing has been done. Hence, they have decided to go ahead with the help of the railways, for time being.Oil extracted from the seeds of Jatropha plant are used for the production of Biofuel. There are more than three crore Jatropha plants cultivated in Rajasthan. It is being cultivated on the wastelands and can survive harsh, rocky terrain. Jatropha is suitable for a desert state like Rajasthan, facing water scarcity Surendra Singh Rathore, CEO of biofuel authority of Rajasthan, while talking to TOI, said, “Jatropha plant requires less amount of water and rarely any maintenance. It is grown majorly by the tribals of Rajasthan. However, the plantation is very scattered in the state which makes it difficult to get any estimate of the production. Hence, the biofuel authority has linked up with the Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad (Rajeevika) department and is involving rural women for the collection of seeds.”The plant is mainly produced in 12 southern districts of Rajasthan like Udaipur, Bhilwara, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur and others. In Rajasthan, 31% of the land is under various categories of wasteland. As per the biofuel policy, 70% of the government wastelands can be given to the BPL families, gram panchayats, registered societies and others.

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