"Petrol" inventor protected

POLICE in southern India are protecting the inventor of a "herbal petrol", after his laboratory was burnt down recently by people trying to steal his secret.

Officials in Tamil Nadu state said five constables had been detailed to protect Mr Ramar Pillai, who claimed to have discovered an "alternative petrol" by boiling a secret herb, the bark of a tree, citrus acid, salt and chemicals in water.

The alternative fuel has reportedly been tested locally in tractors and scooters. It will be manufactured in his house, adjacent to the Alagarkoil hills where he stumbled on to the "magic herb" a decade ago.

Western Ghats Oil will be sold commercially for 45 rupees (83 pence) a gallon next month at less than half the cost of petrol in India. Initially, he would produce around 50 litres a day.

Mr Pillai (34) refuses to talk about his fuel producing herb, except that it is found on a tree which grows wild in the hills and bears a fruit that even birds do not eat. He said the leaves had to be plucked at a specific time to create the fuel.

Mr V. Ramamurthi, head of the federal Department of Science and Technology, said they would be giving the "highest priority" to patenting the invention.

Mr Pillai, who dropped out of school, claims he came across the herb in the mid 1980s and after a series of experiments created the alternative fuel - so simple that for years nobody took it seriously.