Punjab to build biomass plants, Sukhbir offers help to Pakistan

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday assured full support to Pakistan’s Punjab province chief minister Shahbaz Sharif to set up biomass plants there.

Sukhbir announced this during Sharif’s visit to the 15-MW Universal Biomass Energy Private Limited plant here. 

Impressed by the optimum utilisation of agriculture waste, Sharif expressed interest in setting up such plants across Pakistan, according to a Punjab government release. 

He said such plants could be of great use for Pakistan’s Punjab province, which was predominantly an agricultural economy, to cater to its power requirements.

Sharif also showed interest in the agriculture implements made in the state and asked Sukhbir to help them by sharing this technology. 

Sukhbir said East (Indian) Punjab was ready to provide all technical supports and expertise to the West (Pakistan) Punjab for setting up such power plants. 

“This will usher in a new era of unprecedented development in both the states,” he said.

He added that they would soon send a team of experts to help Pakistan.Additional income 

He said the plants have not only been instrumental to augment the state’s power supply, but also played a major role in supplementing the income of farmers.

“The residue of these biomass power plants was also being utilised for production of fancy tiles, which were being used across the state,” he said.

The deputy chief minister also told Sharif that the state government was giving full support to entrepreneurs interested in setting up these plants.

He said as East and West Punjab have almost same topography so such plants could be very successful in that state also.

The owner of the plant, Pawanpreet Singh Dhillon, told the visiting delegation that the project has been set up at a cost of Rs 100 crore and was producing 15 MW power from 500 tonnes of bio-waste every day.

Later, Sharif visited Mata Jaswant Kaur Memorial School at Badal village, where Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was also present.