IMPHAL, April 26 � Power-starved Northeast States, including Manipur, should initiate steps to replicate the idea of tapping renewable power as in and around Maharashtra�s Nagpur city. This was shared by almost all the 20 journalists from Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh who recently toured Nagpur to witness the various agro-based power projects and others being taken up by Bharatiya Janata Party national president Nitin Gadkari under his Rs 500-crore Purti Group of companies.
�It would not be difficult to start such innovative projects here if we have committed leaders as we�ve enough natural resources,� said Manipur-based journalist Suanlian Tunglung. �It was a wonderful experience ... Gadkari�s leadership quality and vision are worth exaltation.�
Among the major agro-based power projects, the Yash Agro Energy Limited (YAEL) at Kolari village under Chandrapur district, 80 km from Nagpur, has been generating 8MW of power by burning 30 trucks load of rice husk or soya bean husk or dry cotton stem daily since 2008.
�Even the price of rice husk has increased from 50 paise to Rs 2.50 per kilogram after we started generating power,� YAEL managing director Uday Kamath said. �Out of the total power generated, 7MW is exported through the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited while the rest is utilized in-house.�
Gadkari�s other projects, Purti Power and Sugar Ltd, Mahatama Sugar and Power Ltd and Wainganga Sugar & Power Ltd under his Purti Group of Companies, have brought about sea changes in the lives of nearly 2.5 lakh people in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra by manufacturing hundreds of tonnes of sugar besides generating 24.45 MW, 15 MW and 40 MW of power respectively from the left-over crush stems.
The power thus generated is reused for manufacturing ethanol and bio-diesel. Residue materials are used in manufacturing a variety of fertilizers.
�Power generation from waste products and its promotion could be replicated in NE,� feels a journalist from Itanagar. Another TV journalist Tumter Riba also shared a similar sentiment.
