OREANDA-NEWS. April 21, 2015. Indian Railways is soon to set up plants to manufacture diesel for mechanical traction with technology patented by scientists at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP) Dehradun.

Announcing thisin Dehradun  today, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Vice President, CSIR, laid out the roadmap for further exploitation of opportunities in alternative fuel sources. The country’s premier research establishment in hydrocarbons has achieved significant success in reducing national dependence on fossil fuels.

“I have myself campaigned on the streets of Delhi against pollution and plastic proliferation. Today, I am glad to announce that diesel conforming to Euro-5 specifications in sulphur content has become a reality thanks to the CSIR-IIP & GAIL’s diligence and ingenuity,” he said.

The rapid decision to embrace the technology by the world’s largest railway network, Indian Railways, speaks volumes for the Narendra Modi government’s resolve to apply out-of-the-box ideas to reduce India’s carbon footprint. The Minister remarked: “United States President Barack Obama has described Shri Modi as India’s reformer-in-chief. This is not surprising.”

CSIR-IIP, which is part of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is currently blazing the trail in offering solutions to global warming. Reducing India’s high dependence on imports and sparing the fossil fuels for the future generations constitute the major focus of its present R&D thrust.

He said, “At the inauguration of the Indian Science Congress in Mumbai in January, I had stated our government’s resolve not to be distracted by falling oil prices by continuing to fund R&D into clean energy. I had CSIR-IIP in mind at the time because I was confident that the time when I could announce to the world this amazing news was drawing near.”

The Minister elaborated: “We are the first to have the capability to convert 1 tonne of broken buckets, mugs, toothpaste tubes, bottle caps and other Polyolefins products into 850 litres of the cleanest grade of diesel. This is the best news yet for the planet this year because henceforth plastic waste will be viewed more as a resource than a nuisance.”   

The Minister, who visited the IIP’s campus, inaugurated the Advanced Triblogy Research Centre.  He was accompanied by Dr M.O.Garg, Director-General of CSIR who is also the Director of the prestigious establishment. Dr Sudeep Kumar, Head, PPD of CSIR and other scientists were also present on the occasion.