The Ministry of Power has directed NTPC Ltd to source up to 10 per cent of its thermal fuel requirements from straw pellets. The move is aimed at luring farmers away from stubble burning, according to Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh.
Speaking at the launch of the Saubhagya mobile app, Singh said, “NTPC will issue a tender in the coming days to source up to 10 per cent of its fuel requirements for thermal power plants from paddy straw pellets or briquettes.”
He said that this obligation will be extended to State government-run power generation companies too. In response to a query on whether this scheme will reduce stubble burning, Singh said, “If you create a market for the stubble, hopefully, the farmer will not burn it and sell it to make money out of it.”
Delhi has been clouded with a layer of smog hampering visibility and putting inhabitants at the risk of respiratory diseases. The smog is considered to be primarily because of stubble burning by farmers in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana.
“In one acre, the average stubble produce is 2 tonnes. This means the farmer can earn around ₹11,000 per acre from selling the stubble,” he added.
Pilot project A Power Ministry official told BusinessLine that NTPC had conducted a pilot project to use straw pellets at its thermal power plants last year.
The stubble has to be processed to convert it into pellets. Singh said, “This can be done through machines and the government’s financing arm, IREDA Ltd, will lend for purchasing pellet manufacturing units.”
Secretary, Ministry of Power, AK Bhalla said, “The use for this season might not be possible because we need to set up the infrastructure for this.” But the pellet mixing by NTPC will be implemented from the next season. Singh said, “The process has been started, come next season, this will be instituted. Even in this season, if someone has pellets, we will use it. NTPC will issue a tender for this soon.”
An official statement said, “Saubhagya Dashboard is a platform for monitoring household electrification progress, which would disseminate information on Household Electrification Status (State, district, village-wise), Household Progress on live basis, State-wise Target vs Achievement, Monthly Electrification Progress, among others.”
The Centre has also decided to allocate additional power to Jammu and Kashmir in view of increase in the power requirement of the State during the winters, according to another statement from the Ministry of Power.
The statement said, “The Central government has allocated 74 per cent power, that is, 792 MW out of 1071 MW from the unallocated power pool of Northern region.”
This will help J&K in further meeting the additional requirement of power during the winter, the statement added.