ARVIND SEN

New Delhi:

Test conducted by RDSO have shown that bio-diesel can be blended with high-speed diesel, normally used in locomotives, with a little modification to the engine.

Indian Railways has now decided to set up its own bio-diesel plants. It recently invited bids from companies to construct and operate four bio-diesel esterification plants on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis. The plants must be set up within 12 months and then operated for 20 years by the selected companies. They will then be handed over to Indian Railways.

Raw jatropha oil will be used as feedstock at the plants, which will be set up in Erode, Tamil Nadu; Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh; Raipur, Chhattisgarh; and Tughlakabad, Delhi.

However, logistical considerations may require the locations to be changed. According to a senior official with Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), "each plant will be required to supply 50 kiloliters of bio-diesel each day. If raw material is difficult to procure, the target capacity can initially be brought down to 10 kiloliters per day and ramped up later. The Railways intend to blend 5 per cent of bio-diesel with high-speed diesel and later increase the blend up to 20 per cent."

Indian Railways is the largest consumer of diesel with annual consumption of about 2.27 million kiloliters. Further, 2008 saw oil-marketing firms significantly reduce the discount usually extended to the railways. From a discount of about Rs 1,125 per kiloliter on HSD offered in 2006-07, the discount was brought down to about Rs 150 per kiloliter this year.

On a pilot basis, the Railways intend to use a 10 per cent blend of bio-diesel at all 38 of its mainline locomotive sheds. If successful, it will be raised.