Praj Industries, a Pune-based engineering company, expects the Indian bio-diesel market to open up for South East Asian companies following the in customs duty on the same.
Shashank Inamdar, managing director and chief executive officer, Praj Industries, said, “The cut in customs duty on bio-diesel will not benefit the Indian companies, but at least open up market for South East Asian imports.”
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, while presenting the Budget, said the customs duty on bio-diesel will be reduced from 7.5% to 2.5%. He also said diesel blended with up to 20% bio-diesel will be fully exempted from excise duty.
Inamdar said the exemption of excise on diesel blended with bio-diesel was a good move as it will help in promoting the use of blended fuel in the country.
Praj Industries is a provider of end-to-end solutions in industrial and fuel ethanol space with a focus on bio-diesel plants from concept to commissioning basis. It has been operating in the space for the last 25 years. It currently has subsidiaries operating in Brazil, Europe and the US.
The company, which was wading through tough times following the global crisis, expects the market to revive soon. “We currently have an order book of Rs 800 crore of which international orders comprise over 50%,” Inamdar said.
He said the domestic market has started reviving and some projects that were stalled because of strained finances have again come back on the order book. “In fact, the flow of orders in the first quarter was mainly from the domestic market,” said Inamdar.
Apart from offering engineering services, the company also invests in R&D. In February, Praj announced a breakthrough in manufacturing ethanol from non-food products such as sugarcane bagasse and corn cob on a pilot basis. It plans to set up a commercially-viable plant by 2011. Last year, Pramod Chaudhari, chairman, Praj Industries, said the company was looking at entering two new areas — healthcare & wellness and chemicals.
Bio-plans
The Budget reduced customs duty on bio-diesel to 2.5% and made diesel blended with up to 20% bio-diesel fully exempted from excise duty.
Praj says this will help in promoting the use of blended fuel in the country.
The company plans to set up plant by 2011 for manufacturing ethanol from non-food products such as sugarcane bagasse and corn cob.
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