In what is being hailed as a major step towards going green in the developing world, Bharat Renewable Energy, a joint venture between Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Nandan Biomatrix, announced they will build 10 new biodiesel refineries in India.

Jatropha Field in Uttar Pradesh

Considering that green initiatives are few and far in-between in this part of the world, the announcement has already assumed great significance. The $428 million project will initially be concentrated around the Kanpur, Jhansi, Laltpur, Chitrakoot, and Sultanpur districts of Uttar Pradesh.

According to the sources in the country, the nation wants biofuel to account for 20% of its total gasoline fuel production. While that is still a long way to go, the company will use jatropha as the main source of raw material and promises that the newly added plants will contribute 270 million gallons of biofuel by 2015. And what’s even better, the production will not affect the food crops, as the plant is a common weed easily found in the region.

We can only hope that nations like India and China are really taking steps in the green direction, as both nations contribute plenty in terms of global carbon emissions each year.

[via TreeHugger]