In a major leap forward towards strengthening bilateral ties between India and Pakistan, the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today assured fulsome support and cooperation to the West Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif for setting up Biomass plants in Pakistan.This announcement was made by the Deputy Chief Minister during the visit of West Punjab Chief Minister at the 15 MW Universal Biomass Energy Private limited plant here today.Impressed by the optimum utilization of agriculture waste for converting it into energy Mian Shahbaz Sharif, accompanied by the Deputy Chief Minister and Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, evinced his keen interest in setting up such plants across Pakistan for producing power. He said such plants could be of great use for West Punjab, which was predominantly an agriculture economy, in catering to its power requirements. Likewise Mr. Sharif also showed immense interest in the agriculture implements made in the state and also asked the Deputy Chief Minister to help West Punjab by sharing this technology which could revolutionize the agriculture in that state.Evoking a positive response, Deputy Chief Minister said that East Punjab was ready to provide all kind of technical support and expertise to the West Punjab for setting up such power plants in Pakistan.‘This step will usher a new era of unprecedented development in both the states across the border” he added.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that as per the desire of Mian Shahbaz Sharif they would soon send a team of their experts to West Punjab for sharing their knowledge of setting such plants in west Punjab. He said that the setting up of these plants have been instrumental not in only augmenting the power supply in the state but have also played a major role in supplementing the income of the state’s farmer.Sukhbir Singh Badal said that with the starting of this project agriculture waste like paddy straw, wheat straw, cotton sticks, dry leaves and others bio-wastes, which were earlier of no use for the farmers were now proving to be ‘gold mines’ by giving pidends to them.Sukhbir Singh Badal said that not only this but the residue of these biomass power plants was also being utilized for the production of fancy tiles, which were being used across the state.
The Deputy Chief Minister also apprised Mian Shahbaz Sharif that the state government was giving full support to the entrepreneurs interested in the setting up of these plants so that the power needs of the state could be meted aptly. Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that as East and West Punjab have almost same topography so such plants could be very successful in that state also.On the occasion the owner of the plant Mr. Pawanpreet Singh Dhillon apprised the visiting delegation that the project has been set up at a cost of Rs 100 crore and was producing 15 MW of power by consuming 500 tonnes of bio waste per day.On the occasion plant owners Mr. Pawanpreet Singh Dhillon and Mr. Jasbir Singh also felicitated the visiting delegation.The Deputy Chief Minister was also accompanied by his Media Advisor Mr. Jangveer Singh and Special Principal Secretary Mr. Manvesh Singh Sidhu.Later on Mian Shahbaz Sharif also visited the Mata Jaswant Kaur memorial school at village Badal where Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal welcomed him. Chief Minister and Mian Sharif also distributed sweets and fruits to the students.