Aemetis Inc.’s Universal Biofuels subsidiary has won its first contract to supply biodiesel to the India government-owned Oil Marketing Companies in a public tender process. The total diesel market in India is approximately 25 billion gallons per year, of which less than 250 million gallons per year of biodiesel is currently blended. The OMCs provide about 70 percent of the fuel consumed in India, and the diesel fuel market is growing at a rate of more than 5 percent per year.

In 2016, India’s government approved the use of up to 100 percent biodiesel to blend or replace diesel fuel, but biodiesel producers are currently limited to sales directly to bulk customers including trucking and bus companies and to the OMCs. The government approval for sales of 100 percent biodiesel by producers to retail fuel stations is in the review process, but OMCs are already approved to market blended biodiesel to railroads, bulk customers and retail stations.

“This [$6 million] Oil Marketing Company supply contract is a milestone in expanding the customer base for our 50 million gallon per year capacity India biodiesel plant,” stated Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “The 80 percent reduction in particulate emissions provided by biodiesel is important for the improvement of air quality in India. The large capital investment in India made by Aemetis as a U.S. company is aligned with the goals of Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Naidu in Andhra Pradesh. We look forward to expanding our biodiesel production capacity through capital investment and acquisitions to meet the growing demand for biodiesel and other renewable fuels in India.”

Aemetis employs about 82 employees in India at its plant in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh and headquarters in Hyderabad, Telangana.  The plant was constructed in 2008 and was expanded to produce refined glycerin in 2013.