Satyajit Singh the state council chairman. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Feb. 8: The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) would soon submit a document to the state government to press for its demand of formulating a state policy for the renewable energy sector.

The Bihar State Council of CII would hold a special programme in Patna on February 11 in which experts on renewable energy would suggest ways for exploring the possibilities in the field of renewable energy.

Representatives of Tat Power, Greenpeace, Rockefeller Foundation and Ernst & Young would take part in this programme.

Satyajit Singh, the chairman of CII Bihar State Council told The Telegraph: “According to estimates, Bihar has the potential of producing around 100MW of electricity using biomass and rice husk. Lack of policy to harness renewable source of energy has not allowed people of this field to come to the state. Our programme would help in getting the necessary inputs for formulation of such a policy.”

Describing the present scenario of energy being produced using biomass and rice husk, Singh said around 1MW of electricity was being generated using biomass and same amount by using rice husk.

Singh said: “But those producing it on their own initiative has to take the burden of setting up their own distribution network and revenue collection system. If the state had a policy in place that would provide a purchase guarantee from the state then more people would come and produce electricity at a larger scale.”

Striving to attract investment in the field of renewable energy by urging the state government to formulate a policy for this sector apart, the CII is also making efforts to create an environment in the state, which will attract people in the field of making machinery used in agriculture sector.

Singh said: “To begin with, we are going to organise a seven-day agro-tech fair in Patna from March 4 in which around 100 manufacturers would exhibit their products. After organising this fair we will send a proposal to the state government to provide a place for setting up an agriculture equipment park in the state.”

Singh said attracting investors in this sector will not be a problem as Bihar has a market of around Rs 500 crore in this sector.