Southern Bio to set up Rs 17-crore bio-diesel plant
By Our Corporate Bureau | 19 Feb 2005
Hyderabad: Southern Online Bio Technologies (SBT) is setting up a Rs 17.1-crore bio-diesel production plant.
This
will be the first commercial bio-diesel production plant in the country and
would have a capacity of 10,000 tonnes a year. According to N Satish Kumar,
managing director of Southern Online Bio Technologies Limited, the plant will
commence production by November this year.
Kumar said the plant would be partly funded through internal sources and a
rights-cum-public issue. "We expect to raise around Rs5.7 crore from
the rights issue and Rs8.4 crore from the second public issue of the company,"
he added and said that the promoters would invest the remaining Rs3 crore.
The company has entered into an agreement with a number of farmers to purchase
its raw materials. He said that the bio-diesel plant would not release any
effluents into the ground or air and prevent the equivalent of 27,000 tonnes
of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.
Kumar
also said the project would result in some fallow land coming into use and
around 1,500 people would benefit from the facility. He said three million
plants spread over 500 acres are expected to come up in the next three years,
he said.
The company has also has received the 'host country' approval from the ministry
of environment, which entitles the company to sell carbon credits after receiving
appropriate approvals.
SBT
has also obtained the German government's approval for a grant of € 3,80,000
(Rs2 crore) in support of the project.
