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'Herbal fuel inventor' signs marketing pact with Madras firm

The name Manasarovar conjures images of serene ambience, crystal clear lakewater, snow-capped mountains, valleys. Now one may have to add petrol/fuel to the list.

Manasarovar, a Madras-based agro products company, has signed an agreement with "herbal fuel inventor" Ramar Pillai for manufacturing and marketing the "wonder fuel" in Madras.

R Sankar, managing director of Manasarovar, and Pillai said in Madras today that the process of manufacturing 500 litres a day would begin once the provisional certificate was obtained from the Tamil Nadu Industries and Commerce Department in a week's time.

Sankar said the company had taken all measures to obtain the international patent for the product. Once the patent was obtained, the production capacity would be increased to 10,000 litres per day in the first phase and 100,000 litres a day with an investment of Rs 20 million at a later stage.

A copy of the letter from the director of industries and commerce circulated to mediapersons confirmed that Tamildevi Herbal Fuel Limited had applied for small scale industry registration for manufacturing the fuel. The director's note said the application could be considered.

The fuel priced at Rs 15 per litre, had been test proved in all two-wheelers and cars, Sankar said adding that he was using the fuel in his Maruti car for the past one and half months.

Pillai said he had signed agreements with S M Agency and King of Two Wheelers respectively for marketing the fuel in Coimbatore and Madurai.

Sankar said the fuel was distributed on a trial basis to more than 50 auto-rickshaws for 15 days and the feedback was very positive.

Pillai said the scientific community was sceptical about the product as he had called it "petrol". Had he named it "herbal fuel" in the beginning itself, it could have received its due recognition.

He said besides herbal, he was also using a chemical and catalyst to produce the fuel. Once the intellectual property right was obtained, he would reveal the details of the chemical and catalyst, he added.

There was a slight delay in getting international patent as the IPR bill was yet to be passed in Parliament, he said.

Pillai also circulated a letter by Prof V Ganesan of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, certifying that the herbal fuel has a good potential in two-stroke engines and four-stroke petrol and diesel engines.

Pillai was presented a gold medal by the Manasarovar company and a cheque for Rs 100,000 by film director Gangai Amaran.

UNI

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