The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) on Sunday signed an MoU to establish a Bio-fuel Chair at the OUAT.
The objective of the chair is to develop, establish and promote rice straw based bio-fuel production to protect environment and enhance farmers’ income. The chair would be established at a total cost of Rs 5 crore.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Petroleum and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “The OUAT needs to be made a platform for development of agriculture,” he said.
He said the OUAT would provide support to the BPCL’s proposed Rs 750-crore ethanol plant, which is under-construction in Bargarh district now, by way of exploring high productive paddy and straw grade. The straws would be used for production of bio-fuel.
Presently, Odisha produces 85 lakh tonnes of paddy with approximate production of 100 lakh tonnes of rice straw annually. Except use as folder and few domestic purposes, there is almost no economic utilization of rice straw.
The chair would ensure effective utilisation of rice straw for bio-fuel production in a bio-chemical enzymatic process.
Among others State Agriculture Secretary Dr Saurabh Garg and BPCL Director Fisheries R Ramachandran were present.