Shimla: The lower hills of Himachal Pradesh are set to grow the jatropha crop from which fuel can be sourced. 

"The central government has approved a Rs.330-million project under which one million jatropha plants will be distributed to farmers in the state," Forest Minister Ram Lal Thakur said here.

Jatropha has been grown on an experimental basis in the low-lying Una and Bilaspur districts. This has encouraged the government to promote its production on a large scale in the lower hills.

Experts say jatropha is a hardy plant, which can also be grown in wastelands. The seeds of the plant are a rich source of eco-friendly oil. It produces more than four times bio-diesel than soyabean and 10 times more than corn.

The trees produce around 1,600 litres of oil per hectare. The demand for bio-diesel is growing by the day due to shrinking reserves of conventional sources of oil across the globe, besides the caused to the environment.

"Jatropha cultivation has the potential to raise the economy of the farmers in a big way as the demand will grow by leaps and bounds in coming years," said Thakur.

The project will come into effect from the next financial year. The plants will be distributed through the forest department nurseries.