Private firm to market Ramar Pillai’s "fuel"

CHENNAI, Jan 12: Ramar Pillai, the village scientist, who shot into limelight with his claim of manufacturing herbal fuel, has signed an ...

CHENNAI, Jan 12: Ramar Pillai, the village scientist, who shot into limelight with his claim of manufacturing herbal fuel, has signed an agreement with a Chennai-based agro company, Manasarovar, for manufacturing and marketing his concoction in the city.

Once the provisional certificates for manufacturing the fuel’ was issued by the Tamil Nadu Industries and Commerce Department, Ramar Pillai’s company, Tamildevi Herbal Fuel, and Manasarovar, will begin with the manufacture of 500 litres a day, R S Shankar, Managing Director of the company and Pillai told mediapersons in the city today.

Priced at Rs 15 per litre, the liquid was being tested by several autorickshaws in the city, they said. Shankar claimed he was himself using it in his Maruti car for more than a month now.

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Shankar said his company was taking all steps to obtain an international patent for the product. There was a slight delay in getting international patent as the Patents Bill was yet to be passed in the Parliament, he said.

Once thepatent was obtained, the production capacity would be increased to 10,000 litres per day in the beginning and later to one lakh litres a day with an investment of Rs 2 crore.

Ramar Pillai said he had entered into agreements with private firms for marketing the product in Coimbatore and Madurai and a firm in Mumbai for the rest of the country. Pillai was presented a gold medal by Manasarovar. Film music director Gangai Amaran donated a Rs 1 lakh cheque to Pillai’s company.