Bhupender Yadav kickstarts initiative to stop stubble burning

NEW DELHI: Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change, Government of India attended a workshop to launch a campaign to stop stubble burning. In order to encourage the building of factories for the torrefaction and pelletisation of paddy straw, Yadav released Centre for Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Guidelines. Once established, these plants would make use of a sizeable amount of the uncontrolled paddy straw and contribute to resolving the burning of crop residue and the ensuing air pollution problem.

According to Bhupender Yadav, who spoke at the workshop, the government has taken a number of measures to address the problem of stubble burning, and a significant amount of paddy straw is now handled through both in-situ and ex-situ management alternatives. Thermal power plants have been given legal instructions to co-fire biomass-based pellets, torrefied pellets/briquettes (with a focus on paddy straw), and coal (up to 5–10 per cent) throughout 2022. This also applies to enterprises operating in the NCR areas other than the Government of NCT of Delhi. Due to these factors, there is a high demand for pellets made from biomass. However, the supply is on the low side due to the delayed or limited expansion of aggregators and providers. CPCB regulations would thereby close a critical gap in the biomass supply chain. The regulations favour organisations who want to install machinery built in India. In order to guarantee a supply of paddy straw, preference is also given to those units that have agreements with farmers in the NCT of Delhi, the states of Punjab and Haryana, and the NCR districts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav advised the farmers to promote the use of stubble as a resource and discourage its burning. Agripreneurs, often known as agricultural entrepreneurs, were also advised to apply for awards in accordance with the regulations. He claimed that it might give young people in rural areas jobs.

In order to effectively execute guidelines, emphasis was placed on the necessity of collaboration between State Pollution Control Boards/Committees and other relevant authorities. Yadav expressed optimism that the push provided by State Environment Ministers’ Meeting will contribute to the implementation of a coordinated and cogent strategy for managing air pollution.

For non-torrefied pellet plants, the maximum award is set at Rs. 14 lakh per ton/hr, and for torrefied pellet plants, it is set at Rs. 28 lakh per ton/hr, with a total grant cap of Rs 70 lakh for the former and Rs 1.4 crore for the latter. Rs 50 crores have been put aside for use through the guidelines. Over 1 million metric tonnes of paddy straw-based pellets are estimated to be produced annually, assuming full corpus use. The rules are anticipated to improve paddy straw consumption in industries and power plants, stimulate the rural economy, and advance the spirit of entrepreneurship with support from other stakeholders.