Govenment to promote biofuel

BANGALORE: To give a boost to production and consumption of bio-fuel as an alternative source of energy to diesel, the state government has formed a new body, Bio-fuel Development Corporation, Home and Transport Minister R Ashok said on Wednesday.Speaking to newsmen here, he said the decision to form  a corporation for bio-fuel development was taken considering the importance of protecting environment and helping the farming community go for additional source of income by growing bio-fuel seeds like honge and jatropa.The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, the state-owned transport corporation providing commuter services in Bangalore city, was mixing about 7.7 per cent of ethanol with diesel for its fleet of vehicles, he said, and added that it had increased the fuel efficiency of the vehicles. “The BMTC would deploy 10 bio-fuel-run buses to promote the use of ethanol and create an awareness,” he said.The minister said another state-run corporation, KSRTC. was also using ethanol extensively for its fleet. “Over 1,500 KSRTC buses were run by ethanol-mixed fuel and it helped save 60 per cent of fuel bill,” he added.He also stated that the state had appealed the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Gases to liberalise its policy on the bio-fuel consumption and remove restrictions imposed on the quantum of ethanol to be mixed with diesel.To a query, he said the KSRTC had planned to build a high-tech bus station at a cost of over `27 crore at Sadagalli in Mysore district and one each at Mangalore and Puttur at a total cost of `50 crore on PPP model.