In India, the state of Chhattisgarh can become a biofuel production hub, according to Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari who told The Economic Times that this would “create job opportunities for farmers, tribals and forest-dwellers and empower them.” He also hopes the use of biofuels would decrease the state’s dependence on petrol and diesel.
“Growth rate of the agriculture sector in Chhattisgarh is very good. Production of rice, wheat, pulses and sugarcane is abundant here, but the state can also emerge as a bio-fuel (production) hub,” Gadkari told The Economic Times. He also told The Economic Times that “biofuel produced from jatropha plants in Chhattisgarh was used in the first biofuel-powered flight which took off from Dehradun and landed in Delhi recently. The Union petroleum ministry is setting up five ethanol plants, where the fuel will be produced from paddy straw, wheat straw, bamboo and sugarcane.”