Punjab is set to come out with a practical solution to the menace of stubble burning with the setting up of a second generation Bioethanol plant at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda district.
Union Food Processing Minister and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Badal on Thursday said that the Ethanol plant, besides addressing environment issues, would also provide better remuneration to farmers.
Harsimrat said that the plant would use 400 tonnes of agriculture residue per day or 1.28 lakh tonnes of biomass as fuel and shall have a production capacity of around 100 Kl per ethanol per day and around 3.20 crores litters of ethanol annually. This would be enough to meet 26 per cent of the ethanol requirement of the State, she added.
She said that 1200 to 1300 people will get employment through the project and biomass supply chain management, while around three lakh farmers will be benefitted with extra income of more than Rs 19.20 crore per annum, that is at an average biomass rate of Rs 1500 per tone.
Apart from this, the plant will also yield Bio-CNG, which can be used as clean cooking fuel and fuel in vehicles. The plant will be yielding 115.20 las kg of Bio CNG per annum, Harsimrat said.
The Bathinda MP said that Hindustan Petroleum Corporation limited (HPCl) was bringing this capital intensive project to Punjab at a cost of Rs 600 crore.