MoU for bio-fuel project inked
CHANDIGARH:The Punjab government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a company for a ₹630 crore project to produce renewable fuel from paddy straw to check stubble burning in the state.
The MoU was signed in the presence of chief minister Amarinder Singh and US ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster.
The firm, Virgo Corporation, will use the technology to extract bio-jet fuel from rice husk to set up a rapid thermal processing plant which will provide over 150 direct and 500 indirect jobs, an official spokesperson said. The technology for the project will be provided by US multinational Honeywell.
The CM said the project will go a long way in containing the environmental pollution caused due to stubble burning, besides supplementing the income of farmers by helping turn the unmanageable agro-waste into raw material for producing bio fuel.
Besides incentivising the farmers to sell their crop stubble instead of burning it, the project will support the government’s requirements for national biofuel blending targets and air quality initiatives such as the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), the CM said.
US ambassador Juster said the project for which the MoU was signed was of critical importance as it demonstrated how collaboration towards a common vision could bring sustainable solutions and positive change.
Those present on the occasion included finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, media advisor to CM Raveen Thukral and others.