Guidelines on granting aid for paddy straw pelletisation plants released

Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Thursday released guidelines for grant of financial support for establishment of paddy straw pelletisation and torrefaction plants.

Yadav presided over a workshop to kick start an initiative to tackle stubble burning. The Minister released Central Pollution Control Board Guidelines for grant of one-time financial support for promoting establishment of paddy straw based pelletisation and torrefaction plants.

These plants, once set up, would utilise a sizeable portion of the unmanaged paddy straw and help address the issue of crop residue burning and the resultant air pollution.

Speaking at the workshop, Yadav said that the government has taken various steps to tackle the issue of stubble burning and a large quantity of paddy straw is now being managed through in-situ and ex-situ management options.

The guidelines give preference to units proposing to install equipment that is made in India. Preference is also given to those units which have agreement with farmers located in NCT of Delhi, states of Punjab and Haryana and NCR districts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, to ensure assured supply of paddy straw.