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2. The complaint in this case was fi 1,, Royial• Energy Ltd., the informant stating that it was the largest rr w.facturer of biodiesel in India and was associated with Indian Railw 13ES T' `NS : hivaji etc. as a

-vendor of biodiesel. It was also r, 1ing z. b . iesel pumps in Maharashtra. As the products of the infoi j~were causing a threat to h the three OMCs namely Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL, they approached tne A clients of the informant and told them that they would be supplying biodiesel blended oil to them directly. As the OMCs were to purchase bodteeLat determined once of Rs 26 50 per litre against th ket price of Rs 31/ per litre The 4informant has alleged that this is monopolistic trade practice which would lead to the ehnupaton o competitors, abuse of market power, preventing and reducing competition, limiting technical development and adoption of unfair and deceptive trade practices. The informant has also referred to Circular NO. P-45011/17/2009 by which the Ministry of P&NG requested the State Governments to eliminate the sale of biodiesel in the market. It is been stated that this has been done at the instance of the OMCs who did not want any competition. The action of the Ministry of P&NG was to limit and reduce the supply of biodiesel in the market and this was an anticompetitive practice.

(i) The Policy aims at mainstreaming of Biofuels and therefore envisions a central role for it in the energy and transportation sectors of the country in coming decades.
(ii)The goal of the policy is to ensure that a minimum level of Biofuels becomes readily available in the market to meet the demand at any given time.

11. The Policy also mentions that the market for biodiesels would lead to the utilisation of degraded waste lands. It would held the farmers and landless labourers to provide the feedstock for biodiesel and would also help the corporate to undertake plantations. This in turn would lead to rural employment. The government hoped to support such .efforts with minimum support price and to provide financial and fiscal measures to develop and promote Biofuels. The government hoped tQ encourage setting up of industries for the setting up of Bio,$ /'Col :pl'ants. s the government realised that as in the initial years the 'ailab Hity.of bidçliesel would be in short supply, blending with diesel wkld b at lower/level. According to the policy, the responsibility of stotW, 'distribution and VWInis ___Bioñje r.would.restwithMGs:. :utthe policy. that other agencies cannot do this work of storage, distribution and marketing of Biofuels. As it was a new area of business, it is the government pious intention to give responsibility of this business in the OMC5. The Policy states that the minimumpurce price for biodieselby Urked to the •prilin.retail price -Lnth areaof;:. biodiesel 100% FDI ws allowed for U-re use of biodiesel in India. Biodiesel was exempted from excise duty and customs duty relief was granted for importing plant and machinery. Under the allocation of business rules, for policy decision in respect of biodiesel was given to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The standards for biodiesel have been fixed in the National Policy.

'é'tnedat. ite () but bodies& is .Lmentjoned in Euthér, as 'airêadS' diussed, 'b1odisel 'is 'neither petroleum nor ...... petroleum product. Further in public interest biodiesel has not been included in the schedule. Thus biodiesel cannot be subjected to the Essential Commodities Act and the order of 2005 cannot apply to it because biodiesel is neither motor spirit nor high speed diesel.

14. Some of the biodiesel manufacturers had setup biodiesel pumps from where a purchaser could purchase biodiesel. But then the Ministry of P&NG insisted that it be treated as a petroleum product and therefore asked the State Governments to enforce the Prevention of Malpractices Order 2005. Challenges were made to this order in the Allahabad High Court which upheld the order preventing the marketing and distribution of Biofuels in the State of Uttar Pradesh. In the State of Maharashtra, the order could not be implemented because the Bombay High Court held that as the National Policy on Biofuels was not gazetted, the policy was not in force and therefore did not have the exclusive mandate to market and distribute Biofuels. Therefore, the authorities were restrained from stopping the marketing of biodiesel in Maharashtra.

17. The formula for the pricing of biodiesel has been given in the National Policy and it has to be based on the price of diesel. On this basis, biodiesel could be purchased at Rs. 26.50per litre by the OMCs in 2006 and Rs.33/- per litre in 2010. This price for the OMCs was fixed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. As the biodiesel manufacturing companies could market biodiesel at Rs. 31/- per litre in 2006 and around Rs-56 per litre in 2010, non of the biodiesel manufacturers sold a single litre of biodiesel to the OMCs. As a result, the entire policy of blending diesel with biodiesel was defeated. Incidentally, there are three other private companies which are involved in the marketing and distribution of diesel. But as the diesel price is fixed by the government and as they do not get subsidy, the hay-been driven out of the market. It is not clear as to whether( vöul'd have been constrained to buy biodiesel at Rs. 26.50 per litrixed by the .iinistry Fz of Petroleum and Natural Gas. In any case, t e Lssues ' 'relang to the .