Chennai firm to help control stubble burning
CHANDIGARH:The Punjab government Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Chennai-based firm to set up 400 plants to convert paddy straw into bio-energy, a move that would help check air pollution in the state and neighbouring areas, including Delhi.
The plants would get operational before the next paddy season, preventing a re-run of the pollution triggered by burning of the stubble this season, a government spokesperson said.
The plants would be set up by NEWAY Engineers MSW Private Limited with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore over the next 10 months.
Punjab’s decision to put the remains of rice plants to use will bring a huge relief to Delhi, as smoke from the food-bowl state and neighbouring Haryana brings toxic haze to Delhi every year.
For the more than a week now, Delhi has been enveloped in a toxic haze, forcing people indoors, raising health concerns and delaying air, road and train traffic.
The company would set up 400 cluster units for the 20 million tonnes of paddy straw expected to be generated in the state in a season. Each unit would have the capacity to process 50,000 tonnes through the year, or 150175 tonnes per day per unit.
NEWAY would use its pollution-free Zero Residue Technology to ensure no residue was left at the end of the process, the spokesperson said.
The carbon-rich fuel produced would find use in various industries, including cement, iron and steel, sugarcane, paper and thermal power plants, he said.
The agreement came on a day Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal met his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh to discuss stubble burning and its impact on Delhi’s air. In the meeting, which was give a miss by Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, the two decided to work together to prevent a repeat in 2018, a statement said.