Oil repurposing policy to be created

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has decided to formulate a policy to do away with adulterated cooking oil. The government is looking at the option of using this oil as biodiesel. The aim of the policy is to use cooking oil in multiple ways and eradicate adulteration. “The government is working on a policy that will eradicate adulteration of used cooking oil by using it as a feedstock for bio diesel which reduces pollution,” said co-operation minister Subhash Deshmukh in Mumbai on Friday.

“This will also create employment opportunities in the collection of used cooking oil and attract new investments in the biodiesel sector,” Mr Deshmukh said. He was speaking after flagging of a ‘Biodiesel Driveathon’, an awareness campaign in the form of biodiesel car rally from Mumbai to Pune.

The rally was conducted by the Biodiesel Association of India (BDAI), a non-profit national association representing the biodiesel industry. The initiative by the BDAI highlights the harmful effects of used cooking oil (UCOs) on the public health. At the same time, UCO is an indigenous feedstock for biodiesel that will create four MT capacity and more than ten lakh jobs, the association said.

Speaking on the initiative, Sandeep Chaturvedi, BDAI President, said, “Lack of awareness has led to parallel UCO market leaking into the food chain. Larger public participation, supported by a national legislation, would be required to fight this common cause. UCOs should be sold only to authorised collection agencies as this will ensure their elimination from our food chain.”