The Centre has sought feedback from the public on proposed changes to the National Policy on Biofuels which will allow producers to directly sell fuel to consumers, as per a notice issued on Wednesday.

“…Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) invites Feedback/Views/Comments on National Policy on Biofuels in respect of the changed overall outlook of the biofuel programme,” the notice said, adding that comments could be sent to biofuels.mnre@gov.in by September 20.

The national policy states that biofuel storage, distribution and marketing will rest with oil marketing companies (OMCs) and “shall be carried out through their existing storage and distribution infrastructure and marketing networks, which may be suitably modified or upgraded to meet the requirements for biofuels”.

It adds that exports will be permitted only after requirements for domestic consumers are met.

The goal is to ensure a minimum level of biofuels becoming available in the market and an “indicative target” of 20 per cent blending for bio-diesel and bio-ethanol by 2017 and has been proposed.

It also advocates a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for oilseeds to be announced and implemented. OMCs are also permitted to bank surplus quantities left after blending in a particular year which can then be carried forward to a subsequent year to tide over shortages.

“The Minimum Purchase Price (MPP) for bio-diesel by the OMCs will be linked to the prevailing retail diesel price. The MPP for bio-ethanol, will be based on the actual cost of production and import price of bio-ethanol,” the policy outlines.

OMCs will be compensated when the price of crude oil or diesel falls below the MPP of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. The MPP will be determined by the Biofuel Steering Committee and decided by the National Biofuel Coordination Committee.

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