Renewable and alternative Energy Association of Pakistan (Reap) hands over a five-year bio-diesel plan to Federal Minister for Planning Chaudhry Ahsan Iqbal in National Advisory Council meeting and suggested to bring four million acres of barren land under Jatropha crop in Pakistan to meet the domestic requirement of Diesel.
Rana Tauseef Iqbal told media men here Monday that government should announce a scheme with incentives for the promotion of Jatropha cultivation and allot the barren state land on 99 years' lease for this purpose besides providing well-germinated certified seed through concerned agency.
Banks should provide maximum loans for this purpose on soft terms and conditions and there should be no tax on bio-diesel for 10 years and Pakistan Railways, highways, irrigation department and forest department should plant the saplings of Jatropha, he added.
He further suggested that Ogra should fix the price of bio-diesel on regular basis. He said that experimental cultivation of bio-diesel feedstock on scientific basis had also been started.
The cultivation has now risen from around two acres in 2005 to more than 500 acres in South Punjab alone. This surge in Jatropha cultivation is mainly based on aggressive campaign undertaken by Reap as well as AEDB. A number of institutions imported Jatropha seeds for germination from variety of sources and countries.
They have been growing such nurseries at various sites in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan. Realising the importance of Bio-diesel, AEDB outlined National bio-diesel Programme and decided to assist and facilitate the stakeholders involved for this purpose. AEDB formulated Policy Recommendations for use of Bio-diesel as an alternative fuel which is primarily aimed at reducing the country's fuel import bill.
The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Federal Cabinet has approved the Policy Recommendations for use of bio-diesel as an alternative fuel in 2008 but no practical step is taken for enhancing its production. The Federal Government assigned AEDB the target of gradual introduction of bio-diesel fuel blends with petroleum diesel so as to achieve a minimum share of five percent by volume of the total diesel consumption in the country by the year 2015 and 10 percent by 2025.
Rana Tauseef Iqbal told media men here Monday that government should announce a scheme with incentives for the promotion of Jatropha cultivation and allot the barren state land on 99 years' lease for this purpose besides providing well-germinated certified seed through concerned agency.
Banks should provide maximum loans for this purpose on soft terms and conditions and there should be no tax on bio-diesel for 10 years and Pakistan Railways, highways, irrigation department and forest department should plant the saplings of Jatropha, he added. He further suggested that Ogra should fix the price of bio-diesel on regular basis. He said that experimental cultivation of bio-diesel feedstock on scientific basis had also been started.
The cultivation has now risen from around two acres in 2005 to more than 500 acres in South Punjab alone. This surge in Jatropha cultivation is mainly based on aggressive campaign undertaken by Reap as well as AEDB. A number of institutions imported Jatropha seeds for germination from variety of sources and countries.
They have been growing such nurseries at various sites in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan. Realising the importance of Bio-diesel, AEDB outlined National bio-diesel Programme and decided to assist and facilitate the stakeholders involved for this purpose. AEDB formulated Policy Recommendations for use of Bio-diesel as an alternative fuel which is primarily aimed at reducing the country's fuel import bill.
The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Federal Cabinet has approved the Policy Recommendations for use of bio-diesel as an alternative fuel in 2008 but no practical step is taken for enhancing its production. The Federal Government assigned AEDB the target of gradual introduction of bio-diesel fuel blends with petroleum diesel so as to achieve a minimum share of five percent by volume of the total diesel consumption in the country by the year 2015 and 10 percent by 2025.
News Source Business Recorder News Collected: agrinfobank.com Team
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