India: IOC Issues LoI to Set-up 6 Biodiesel Plants

Indian Oil has issued letters of intent for the set-up of six plants to make biodiesel from used cooking oil after an "encouraging response" to an expression of interest from the refiners.

Plants with an overall capacity to produce 10,200 tons of biodiesel each year are slated for Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the state-run oil refiner said in a tweet. In August, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum released an expression of interest to purchase biodiesel from used cooking oil. The retailers are seeking leftover cooking oils from bulk consumers such as hotels, restaurant and canteens across 100 cities.

The retailers will pay Rs. 51 ($0.72) per liter to buy biodiesel derived from used cooking oil in the first year, Rs. 52.7 in the second year and Rs. 54.5 in the third. As one of the world’s top edible oil consumers, India uses about 27 billion liters of cooking oil each year, of which 1.4 billion liters can be collected to produce 1.1 billion liters of biodiesel, according to the ministry.

India is the third biggest crude oil consumer on the globe and meets about 85% of its needs through imports, exposing the economy to the risks of price and supply disruptions often caused by geopolitical tensions and trade wars. The prime minister has set a target to reduce such overseas energy purchases by 10 percentage points by 2022, through increased domestic output and greater use of alternative fuels.