The Union Science and Technology Ministry in collaboration with IIT Delhi and a local NGO has set up a unique integrated rural micro-industrial complex — a biomass-fuelled cogeneration system that powers cooling for food storage and fruit ripening, oil-seed pressing and water purification for bottling — at a wasteland in a little-known Malunga village in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur.
“The trial runs have shown that the project aims to promote local entrepreneurship using local resources can successfully meet the local needs using local agriculture produce. Once fully commissioned, which is likely to be in a next few months, it will be dedicated to the nation,” said Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday at a Press conference here.
He said that as the project, which has been supported at a cost of Rs7 crore by the Department of Science and Technology, will utilise agricultural residues which otherwise goes for a total waste, will also help ensuring low carbon footprints. School of Desert Sciences, a NGO based in Rajasthan, has provided ten acres of land for the complex and will run the facility on a commercial basis.
The Minister hoped that entrepreneurs and group of villages or organisations will take up the profitable venture which has a payback time of less than three years.
The project can be customised as per the need of the local areas. For instance, farmers in Malunga village, where castor seeds are commonly grown, can avail the facility to crush castor seeds for extraction of oils.
“At present, farmers have to spend lots on transport costs as they take castor seeds to far-off places like Ahmedabad for extraction of oil. This facility can crush 30 tonnes of castor seeds per day, cutting their transport cost. The facility uses the oil cakes, a waste product, as a fuel for boilers. Farmers also get paid for the oil cake,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary (Science and Technology).
SN Singh, professor with Department of Applied Science, IIT Delhi added, the steam generated by the boilers is used for vapour absorption machine (VAM) based cooling system for cooling of four cold rooms.
“Each room with the capacity of 10 tonnes can be used for cold storage for agriculture produce and ripening of fruits. Here, the trials for Banana ripening have been successfully carried out.
“Steam is also being used for industrial level multi effect distillation system for production of distilled water (2,000 litres per hour). The distilled water can be used for industrial purposes such as battery water and with mineral additives it can be packaged as drinking water,” he explained.
Since Malunga area has brackish water, the facility would provide potable drinking water at affordable cost (Rs5 per litre) to local rural population.