Chennai, Dec 22: Ramar Pillai today disowned his responsibility of getting the patent for his famous ‘herbal fuel’ by handing it over to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).RSS Chennai Sangh-Chalak and leading lawyer S Sampath Kumar said the application for the patent had been made by Pillai, his friend Venudevi and two chemistry professors H V Jambekar and S G Jyotishi. He also hoped that the patent application would be duly considered. The RSS would then decide on the formalities for the manufacture and marketing of the ‘herbal fuel’, he added. He said that the RSS higher-ups and scientists were convinced with the composition of the fuel.They stressed that there was no trace of petroleum products like benzene in the fuel. Sampathkumar denied the allegation of the CBI that the composition of the fuel violated the Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel Order. ‘‘ CBI had wrongly concluded that the fuel had petroproducts in it,’’ he said. Stating that the RSS took up the matter for reasons of ‘national interest’, Sampath Kumar said that government agencies would be given the preference. Since the fuel is a herbal one (Sampathkumar himself had said that he himsef had done a test in the RSS premises), it would be viable to produce it on a large scale and thus reduce the dependency of the country on the rest of the word for our petroeum needs,’’ Sampathkumar said. And all the dealers, whom Pillai had signed up with, woud be paid in full, he added. Responding to questions from the press about the authenticity of the fuel, he said tests were done with a negative bent of mind. He produced two copies of a letter from two scientists saying that they had used the formula to produce the fuel in Go-vigyan Anusandhan Kendra. They used it on a Bajaj scooter and Hero Honda vehicle and found that it had lower carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emission than petrol. ‘‘It even gave more mileage,’’ the scientists claimed in the letter.Ramar Pillai claimed that he had handed over his formula to the RSS since he believed it was the only organisation working for the nation’s interest. ‘‘Others tried to sell my formula to foreign countries,’’ he added. It may be recalled though there was an euphoria about Ramar Pillai’s invention. Later, the discovery was disputed by the scientists. He demonstrated the efficacy of his fuel before Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, but he failed during an attempt at the Chennai IIT. However, Ramar Pilai started selling the fuel at Rs 19 per litre at the rate of 200 litres per day, after procuring a licence from the State government. On March 12, 2000, he was arrested by the CBI suspecting his fuel to be just ‘linear alky benzene’.
