Greentech Lead India: India has installed 70 rice husk based gasifier systems of 32 kW each in rural areas of the country, mainly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, providing electricity needs of about 200 villages / hamlets so far, said Minister for New & Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah.
Each system is capable of providing electricity to more than 200-250 households and other establishments for 5-6 hours daily in the evening with an average load of 25-30 kW.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced Central Finance Assistance (CFA) @ Rs.15000 per kW for rice husk based distributed / off grid electricity generation through biomass gasifier system in rural areas.
The government also provides financial assistant of Rs.1.0 lakh per km for a maximum of 3 km, for laying distribution network in association with state governments, NGOs, village level organizations, institutions, private entrepreneurs.
On 12 September 2008, the Indian Government announced its ‘National Biofuel Policy’. It aims to meet 20 percent of India’s diesel demand with fuel derived from plants.
Currently the biofuel industry in India focuses mainly on Jatropa plant sees which are very rich in oil. The advantage of Jatropha is that the oil can be used directly as a fuel without any processing.
Unlike the U.S., India is not keen to promote biofuel from food crops such as corn or palm considering the fact that it will have direct impact on the price of food.
However, biofuel from rice bran is a potential opportunity for India. The country accounts for 20 percent of world’s rice production. The India’s rice production reached to a record high of 104.32 million tons in 2011-2012 crop year.
The Government is also implementing an ethanol-blending program and considering initiatives in the form of mandates for biodiesel.
Analysis on Indian biofuel market suggests India’s total biodiesel requirement is projected to grow to 3.6 Million Metric Tons in 2011-12, with the positive performance of the domestic automobile industry. Analysts feel that Indian biofuel market is an emerging one and has a long way to go before it catches up with global competitors.