Former Union minister Annasaheb MK Patil at the BJP news conference in Patna on Friday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, July 22: Bihar should take the initiative to develop a bio-energy sector as an alternative source of energy as the state has plenty of natural resources, said BJP bio-energy cell national convenor and former Union minister Annasaheb M.K. Patil at a news meet today.

“Bio-energy is cost effective. Bihar has the potential to generate around 800MW of power from bio-energy and municipal waste. The state should try to emulate Karnataka to achieve the high growth rate,” Patil said.

He added that BJP-ruled states particularly Karnataka, which took the lead in giving fillip to the bio-energy sector, has been blending 7.75 per cent of ethanol in petrol and about 20 per cent bio-diesel with diesel.

The southern state has been successfully running its state transport corporation and government department vehicles on blended fuel, which is cost effective to about Rs 4 to Rs 5 per litre, said Patil. He added that BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have also taken initiatives in this regard and hence other states should try to follow a similar model.

The former Union minister said he would meet Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and chief minister Nitish Kumar later on the issue of bio-energy for the state’s development.

Patil said at present, of the Centre’s total annual expenditure of Rs 11.09 lakh crore, the government spends about Rs 3.75 lakh crore on import of crude oil. This is a staggering 34 per cent of the total expenditure. He added that the expenditure would increase significantly over the next 20 to 25 years.

NDA government had initiated a bio-fuel programme in January, 2003, when it was made mandatory to blend 5 per cent ethanol in petrol in nine states and four Union territories.

Patil added that the bio-diesel mission aimed to bring 4 lakh hectares of waste and degraded land under cultivation of trees that produced oil. However, the Congress-led UPA government put the programme in to the dustbin, he added.

BJP state president Dr C.P. Thakur said bio-energy could be an alternative source for Bihar, as the state has been grappling with the power crisis.