Mercedes Expands Jatropha Cultivation Project

[rgiridhar]

Hindu BusinessLine Oct. 7, 2007

DaimlerChrysler (Mercedes Benz India) has expanded the scope of its tie-up with the Bhavnagar-based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), a constituent of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Gujarat, and a German University, for research and development of pollution-free bio-diesel in India.

With India’s vast potential for commercial growth of jatropha on wastelands, bio-diesel petrol pumps may become a reality in the country in the next five to 10 years, according to Mr Suhas Kadlaskar, Director, Corporate Affairs, DaimlerChrysler India.

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), DaimlerChrysler has invested Rs 7.50 crore in the project, known as Biodiesel from Eroded Soils of India.

Under its Phase-II, the area under jatropha cultivation has been expanded from 20 acres to 80 acres of wastelands near Bhavnagar and parts of Rajasthan, and 20 acres in Orissa, he told Business Line here.

The project, started in 2003, has received the DaimlerChrysler Environmental Leadership Award, 2005.

The four collaborators in the project are: CSMCRI, DaimlerChrysler Germany, DaimlerChrysler India and University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart.

Under the project, farmers are being encouraged to cultivate jatropha in wastelands and semi-arid areas under the wasteland reclamation programme.

Oil containing methyl ester, extracted from jatropha plants, is converted into bio-diesel through the process of esterification which provides clean fuel for automobile.

The company, which has a model run on bio-diesel, has conducted three types of testing on vehicles, viz. a 6,000-km-drive in hot environment, a Himalayan drive in high altitude and a long drive in normal weather conditions. These have together clocked one lakh km of test drives.

About the expected price of bio-fuel, Mr Kadlaskar said if jatropha seeds could become available at Rs 6-7 per kg, the price of bio-diesel could be around Rs 28 to 30 per litre.

The regular engines could be used for the bio-diesel fuel without major modifications.

The company has an automobile, the bio-diesel C class, that is part of the ongoing ‘Mercedes-Benz: The India Trail.’

Mr Kadlaskar, who flagged off its Ahmedabad-Udaipur leg here today, said the pan-India drive features the complete portfolio of seven diesel cars from the Mercedes-Benz stable in India.