The Union government’s decision to provide land “free of cost” to industrialists and entrepreneurs to set up paddy straw pelletisation plants within the thermal power stations in NCR is resulting in better management of pollution generated from stubble burning in the winter season.
Sources said the land is being provided free of cost to companies within the complex of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plants in the NCR region. Paddy straw made into pellets will be mixed along with coal in thermal power plants. This saves coal and reduces carbon emissions from the fossil fuel. At the same time, it prevents emissions were the straw burnt in the fields, as is the regular practice of most farmers in Punjab and Haryana.
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On Monday, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, P.K. Mishra, chaired a high-level task force meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office to assess readiness to tackle air pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) ahead of the winter season. A review and evaluation of efforts to tackle pollution, particularly from paddy stubble burning, were taken up.
The environment ministry’s statement said that 2 million tonnes of paddy straw will be co-fired in 11 thermal power plants across the NCR.
Land constitutes a major part of financing to set up pelletisation plants. When it was felt that the entrepreneurs were shying away from setting up these plants due to less profitability, the government decided to provide them land in the NTPC power plants free of cost, sources in the power ministry said, adding that the response has been good and a couple of plants have already started their operations.
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Sources said that in 2022, a scheme worth Rs 50 crore was announced to incentivise entrepreneurs to set up these plants but it could not pick up as desired due to the profitability factor. Farmers who used to burn the crop residual started charging high amounts to supply straw when they learnt that it was being bought. This reduced the profit margins of companies who started losing interest in running the plants, sources added.
Pelletisation or torrefaction is costlier but can deliver a product whose energy content is much higher and theoretically substitute for more coal in a power plant.
This season, Punjab plans to manage 11.5 million tonnes of 19.52 million tonnes of its paddy straw through in-situ crop residue management and the rest via ex-situ methods, whereas Haryana will similarly manage 3.3 million tonnes of its total 8.10 million tonnes.
In 2023, there were 36,663 instances of stubble burning in Punjab and 2023 in Haryana. The numbers were 49,922 and 3,661 in 2022 in Punjab and Haryana respectively.