Patna, (Bihar Times): Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi called on the Centre to announce the national bio-fuel policy and set up national bio-fuel board. He accused the Centre of obstructing the state government’s effort to produce ethanol directly from sugarcane.
He said that while the Centre had from October 2008 made it mandatory to blend petrol with 10 per cent ethanol it, at the same time, prohibited the direct use of cane juice to produce ethanol. The Centre had passed the notification in this regard in December 2007.
Speaking at the two-day seminar on “New Vistas For Bihar Sugar Sector: Ethanol, Co-Generation and Carbon Trading Issues And Way Out” he said the state government received proposal worth Rs 20,000 crore for the production of ethanol directly from sugarcane and Rs 17,000 crore for producting ethanol from maize. He hoped that these projects would turn the state into an ethanol hub of the country.
Modi also appealed to the Centre to give tax holiday to the industries in alternative energy sector.
