"The government has set up a national mission for bio-diesel for which the ministry of rural development is the nodal ministry. The detailed project report is under preparation and the mission is expected to be launched by January 2005," Minister of State for Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Vilas Muttemwar said.
Bio-diesel in a clean alternate fuel, he said, adding the MNES is supporting research and development projects on production and use of bio-diesel.
The government has also constituted a national hydrogen energy board to provide guidance for making and implementing the hydrogen energy road map, which would cover all aspects of hydrogen energy starting from production, storage, transport and applications, he said.
The government has also raised the subsidy on bio-gas plants. "The central subsidy for family type bio gas plants has been increased this year for a few categories to accommodate increase in cost of construction of biogas plants," he said.
The subsidy per plant now ranges from Rs 2700 (30 per cent of cost) in some areas to Rs 11,700 (90 per cent of cost) for north-eastern states and Sikkim.
Muttemwar added that the government has also released Rs 64.329 crore (Rs 643.29 million) as central financial assistance for implementation of various non-conventional energy programmes.