Government schemes often fail to take off or achieve the desired results for being impractical or ill-conceived. That fae seems to be in store for the truly massive programme for producting bio-fuels that can blend with or be a substitute for transport fuels like petrol and diesel. Involving the plantation of an oilseed-bearing plant called jatropha (jetropha curcas) on nearly 3 million hectares, this scheme targets 5 per cent replacement of petro-diesel by bio-fuel during in the next three years, at a cost of a whoopping Rs 1,500 crore. And to make all this happen, a new national mission is to be established.....Editorial