To be built next door to the original plant, the new 250,000 tonne per annum facility is expected to come online in three stages starting this time next year.

In addition, the funds will be used to help Mission increase its Jatropha Curcas plantation land holding to 100,000 acres (40,468 hectares) by the end of this year.

This move is aimed at helping Mission realise its aim of being totally self-sufficient in high quality, cheap feedstock to produce 350,000t of biodiesel by 2011.

“Mission is focused on becoming a significant and integrated player in the industry by using its inherent competitive advantages and moving quickly upstream into sustainable feedstock production to stay ahead of competition,” managing director Nathan Mahalingam said.

“We believe that the expansion and feedstock initiatives will add substantial shareholder value as the initiatives are highly earnings accretive.”

Earlier this month, the company announced it would become involved in growing its own feedstock, after acquiring a 51% stake in Indian plantation company, Agro Diesel.

Starting in 2008, Mission said the Jatropha Curcus plantation would yield 25,000t of low-cost feedstock per year to help underpin its biodiesel operations in Malaysia and China.

The existing plantation covers 22,000 acres of land across the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka through contracts with more than 5000 farmers.

Jatropha Curcas is a fast-growing, drought-resistant plant that can grow in poor quality soil, meaning it does not deprive the use of arable land for food production, according to Mission.