Vitale Nandan Biopharma Sciences Pvt Ltd, a joint venture company floated by Hyderabad-based Nandan Biometrix Ltd and Ahmedabad-based V Worldwide, has been allotted 5,000 acres of wasteland in Patan and Surendranagar districts for the cultivation of jatropha to produce bio-diesel.

The company, which is embarking on a large-scale jatropha cultivation over 8 lakh hectares in Maharashtra, MP, UP, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Jharkhand, is planning to increase its jatropha cultivation to nearly one lakh acres in Gujarat over the next few years.

Of the 133 million hectares of total wasteland in the country, five lakh hectares are in Gujarat and can be used for jatropha cultivation.

The company, which has already set up a nursery production centre for jatropha, will begin plantation when the monsoon season begins in July in the state.

The company initially plans to spend a sum of Rs 10 to 15 crore for plantation and spend another sum of Rs 120 to Rs 130 crore for setting up a refinery with 250 tonnes capacity per day to convert jatropha seed oil into bio-fuel.

Jatropha oil has been successfully tested as a bio fuel by car companies and this has led to corporates joining the race to go in for its cultivation on a big scale.

The demand for renewable and cleaner energy sources like bio-fuel to reduce dependence on crude oil has risen in the country following increase in demand for crude oil and steep rise in its price in the international market. India is spending thousands of crores annually on import of crude oil from other countries to meet the increasing demand of diesel and petroleum, owing to industrial and economic growth in the country.

According to company's directors C S Jadav and Rituraj Pathak, jatropha might be the only solution to reduce import bill on crude.

Jatropha can be grown on any type of soil, is drought tolerant and starts yielding seeds from second year onwards.

The company, they say, will also tie up with big farmers and corporates having large tracts of wasteland for jatropha cultivation.

"We will provide technical assistance for jatropha cultivation and buy back the seeds," they say.

"We are also looking for entrepreneurs who wish to promote jatropha crop by becoming our franchisee and be part of our bio-diesel value chain," Jadav and Pathak say.

But who will buy the jatropha oil to be used as bio-fuel? The company, according to Jadav and Pathak, has entered into an agreement with oil companies. They will buy the bio-diesel and mix it with diesel.