Aemetis, Inc., a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company based in CUPERTINO, California, announced that its Indian subsidiary, Universal Biofuels, has restarted production of biodiesel and refined glycerin. The resumption of operations was approved by the local Pollution Control Board after a review of maintenance and air quality standards.
Universal Biofuels, with an 80 million gallon per annum capacity plant in Kakinda, Andhra Pradesh, has been deeply involved in the Indian biodiesel industry for over 17 years. The subsidiary has revenues of US$112 million for the year ending September 2024 from its biodiesel and refined glycerine operations.
Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis, confirmed that the temporary shutdown has not impacted the company’s ability to meet its delivery commitments as sufficient inventory was produced prior to the shutdown. He also emphasized that the plant’s capacity has been expanded to 80 million gallons per year, which is in line with the growing demand for biodiesel in India, where the 25 billion gallon per year petroleum diesel market is contributing to air pollution and health problems.
The Indian government’s National Biofuels Policy includes a 5% biodiesel blending target, although only about 1% blending is currently being realized, and Aemetis has been awarded a $58 million delivery quota for 2025 by the government’s oil marketing companies (OMCs), which is expected to meet the government’s demand for additional biodiesel capacity.
The Universal Biofuels subsidiary’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) program is underway, with a new CEO appointed and a CFO candidate with IPO experience to be announced soon. The IPO funds are expected to help expand biodiesel production capacity to over 200 million gallons per year to meet annual demand of 1.2 billion gallons.