Gujarat Oleo Chem Ltd.

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THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE - Wednessday. August 4, 2004 Top

Gujarat Oleo Chem bags Rs 25-cr biodiesel order from IOC

G. Chandrashkhar, Mumbai Aug /3 /2004
In what could be a path- breaking private sector initiative in promoting biofuels, Gujarat Oleo chem. Ltd (GOCL), Which has bagged an order for supply of biodiesel worth Rs 25 crore to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), delivered its first consignment to the latter last Saturday.
The significance of the development lays in the fact that for the first time in the country, a private company has successfully exploited the vegetable oil route the produce biodiesel for supply to a Government parastatal.

GOCL is using castor oil as feedstock for production of biodiesel. Crude castor oil is refined and transesterification.

Flagging off the first couple of trucks at the factory premises in Ankleshwar, (Bharuch district) in the presence of Dr. N. Raje, Director of IOC, and Mr. R. Jayaraman Iyer, Executive Director of IDBI, Mr. P.K. Lahiri, State Chief Secretary, Assured the government's Policy support for such eco-friendly initiatives.

The associate sector project of GOCL is financially assisted by Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Ltd.(a government of Gujarat undertaking) Technology Development Board, Union Ministry of Science and Technology.

The GOCL Chairman, Mr. S.D. Pathak, said scale-up to the commercial level was done only after the company put in tremendous research efforts to perfect the production process.IOC carried out rigorous tests on quality and other aspects of production before placing the order, he added.

Talking to Business Line, Mr. Sandeep Chaturvedi, Director, said diversified use of castor oil for biodiesel would improve the marketability of castor seeds and help growers realize better prices, As next step, the company will look at establishing backward linkages so that it will be able to produce castor beans for captive use.

In the developed economies, biofuels, especially biodiesel using the vegetable oil route, are becoming increasingly popular. As much as 20 lakh tonnes of various vegetable oils, (soyabean oil, rapeseed oil, coconut oil) representing two percent of global production are used globally every year for biodiesel, with the Europe Union itself accounting for 70 per cent.

Vegetable oil is a renewable source of energy; its production is sustainable and its use in automobile fuels is eco-friendly.

BUSINESS STANDARD - Ahmedabad, August 02, 2004. Top

Gujarat Oleo delivers bi-diesel to IOC / Company in talks with HPCL

Our Regional Bureau/Ahmedabad, August 02/2004
The Ankleshwar-based Gujarat Oleo Chemicals Ltd (COCL) shipped the first commercial consignment of bio-diesel to Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC) on Saturday.
IOC will use the bio-diesel in test trials for the railways.
Derived from the jatropa plant seed, whose cultivation is being promoted by the Gujarat government, the first consignment of 450 kilo litre of bio-diesel was handed over to IOCL at Ankleshwar on Saturday.
GOCL managing director Sandip Chaturvedi said while the company has become the first Indian company to provide bio-diesel to a public sector oil major, OICL may pick up another consignment from the company in the near future.
“Now that we have delivered the first consignment of bio-diesel to IOCL, the could soon take up another consignment from us,” said Chaaturvedi.
He said public sector oil majors Hindustan petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation have also initiated talks with the company for bio-diesel.
“These talks are still at an initial stage, so not much can be disclosed now. We are hopeful that a few more orders will come through soon,” Said chaturvedi.
At present priced below Rs 45 a liter, Chaturvadi said the price of bio-diesel could come down further, if the government provides tax exemptions.
He said in the United States and European countries as much as two million tonne of bio-diesel is used every year.
“The United States and a few European Countries have used palm oil and rape seed to generate alternate fuels. But these are not available in India , so the jatropa plant, which is available in abundance, must be utilised in full,” he said.
About one hectare of jatropa plant produces three tonne of seeds.
Three tonne of seed produces about 1.50 tonne of jatropa seed oil, which can be converted to bio-diesel. “We are looking at a long-term relationship with the state government, where we can source jatropa from the government and share the profits,” he said.
Gujarat oleo chemicals is the first Indian company to set up a continuous cracking plant of castor methyl esters.
GOCL also manufactures hydrogenated castor oil, hydrostearic acid and methyl hydroxysterate.
Gujarat oleo chemicals,s research and development facility is recognized by the Union Ministry of science and technology. A join venture between the state government and the department of technology in the centre , Gujarat Oleo Chemicals posted a turnover of around Rs. Crore last fiscal.

* Gujarat Oleo Chem bags Rs 25-c r
biodiesel order from IOC