Oil’s well: Minnow joins big fish in bio-diesel race – Manufacturing firm setting up 2, 500 tonne refinery; cultivating 5, 000 acres of Karanja seeds – The Indian Express, Pune, 2^nd September, 2005

With oil prices ruling well above the $60 a barrel mark, the search for alternative sources of fuel is back in focus. Tata motors is already testing bio-diesel on its buses, Daimler-Chrysler is testing bio-diesel from Jatropha on its Mercedes-Benz vehicles and Cummins India is manufacturing and selling natural gas engines across the country. Now, a relatively smaller company is joining the race.

The are the pioneers in India for the electric pump and motor protection relays despite stiff competition in a fragmented market from big companies like L & T and Schneider and yet Minilec India is not resting on its laurels. The 40-year old manufacturing company has diversified into bio-diesel because “it’s the need of the hour.” Sales director K. W. Kekane says the company has earmarked 5, 000 acres at Chiplun for cultivation of Karanja seeds, a non-edible oilseed and commissioning a 2, 500 tonne capacity oil refinery plant by mid-2006 with an investment of Rs.80lakh.

But that is the first phase, say Ajay Phetak, manager, marketing. “The same plant will be able to produce 5, 000 tonnes if it works two shifts.” Typically, an acre of Karanja seeds should convert into a tonne of bio-diesel, points out Kekane. “Butwe will get the seeds from this 5, 000 acres plantation only after five years.”

So, Minilec is now sourcing the seeds from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Satara in Maharashtra. Over the last eight-nine months, the company has carried out a project, producing 100 litres of bio-diesel per day. The oil has been tested thrice, but Minilec is also setting up its own tesing laboratory “because a vegetable based oil is not stable and needs to be tested on and off.”

Currently, the company is testing the fuel – a 20% blend of diesel and bio-fuel – on a Kirloskar 60 HP generator and has been running a Tata 407 truck on it since April. Kirloskar engineers check the machine every 300 hours, says Kekane.

And though Minilec has a turnover of Rs.21crore, it’s drawing up a huge expansion plan for its bio-diesel diversification. “We want to use every bit – from seed to fuel to by product – and so we need land for cultivation, a place to store the seeds, a crushing unit, an oil chemical reactor, a refinery, a place to store the bio-cake (an excellent fertilizer) and a plant to generate electricity through bio-gas….all this will entail an investment of Rs.20crore.”

So Minilec is looking for finances: “We have presented the proposal to four bankers, to our depositors, our dealers’ network…everyone seams keen to join the bio-diesel project,” claims Kekane.