A policy that has made it mandatory for coal-fuelled power projects to use biomass pellets as 5% of their fuel mix and help farmers earn around 15,000 crore annually is mentioned in the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech.
The plan, tentatively named SAMARTH. It is part of the government’s strategy to support India’s energy transition and check pollution from crop-stubble burning by converting them into pellets and facilitating their sale.The pellets are mixed with coal to generate electricity.
The plan is devised to encourage farmers to convert
crop stubble into pellets rather than burn it. Stubble burning is rampant in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
India has the world’s fourth-largest reserves and is the second-largest coal producer, hence Coal-fuelled power projects totalling 202.22 gigawatts (GW)remain the mainstay of India’s power generation and account for more than half of India’s power generation capacity.
“It has been mandated that all thermal power plants use 5% blend of biomass pellets made, primarily, of agro residue along with coal with effect from one year of the date of issue of this guideline. The obligation shall increase to 7% (except for those having ball and tube mill the use of biomass remain 5%) with effect from two years after the date of issue of this order and thereafter," according to the 8 October’s Revised Policy for Biomass Utilization for Power Generation .
“The policy has been approved and is part of India’s strategy to reduce carbon footprint. The State-run NTPC Ltd and Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have started searching for biomass pellets as fuel to generate electricity.
The commitment also includes meeting 50% of India’s energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030 and increasing non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 500GW.
