Indian biodiesel facility receives upgrade

US-headquartered advanced fuels company Aemetis has upgraded its biodiesel and refined glycerin production facility in Kakinada, India.

The 50 million gallon per year capacity facility can now produce high-quality distilled biodiesel. Built in 2008, it uses non-food byproducts from the edible oil industry as feedstock to supply the biofuel, pharmaceutical and industrial markets.

‘The new distillation production unit is fully commissioned and the India facility now produces biodiesel meeting or exceeding the highest worldwide standards,’ says Sanjeev Gupta, MD of Aemetis’ subsidiary in India, Universal Biofuels.

The plant is the only distilled biodiesel producer in the country and is one of the only in Asia capable of producing biodiesel which meets the rigorous European Union (ISCC) standards. Approximately $20 million (€14.7 million) of biodiesel was produced and delivered to customers in Europe last year.

‘The European Union recently adopted five-year, anti-dumping tariffs against Argentina and Indonesia due to large subsidies provided to their local producers. Since an anti-dumping tariff already exists against US biodiesel imports, European fuel customers are now focused on Malaysia and India as the remaining low-cost biodiesel suppliers to Europe,’ says Eric McAfee, CEO of Aemetis.