Itanagar, June 2: Union minister of state (independent charge) for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan assured support to tap the huge bamboo resources of Arunachal Pradesh, which remains unused, to its potential that can change the economy of rural masses.
The assurance came when Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu and junior Union minister Kiren Rijiju made a courtesy call on Pradhan in New Delhi yesterday.
A biofuel refinery, the first-of-its-kind in India set up at Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in Assam, will soon process biofuel from bamboo, abundantly found in the state. The Arunachal Pradesh government has signed a memorandum of understanding with NRL for sourcing 3 lakh tonnes of bamboo every year from the state.
Pradhan stressed on putting in place a robust system for procurement of bamboo from the source and prevent seeping in of third party or middlemen by suggesting establishing small processing units in rural hubs catering to a cluster of villages, which can be run by unemployed youths.
"NRL can then collect the processed bamboo from these units and bring it to Numaligarh," Pradhan said, calling for a structure like that of Amul.
The Union minister said only 5 per cent of bamboo resources of the state are used for paper production while another 5 per cent goes into manufacturing of furniture and other building materials.
"Altogether 70 to 80 per cent of your bamboo resources go to waste. We will tap it and the economy of bamboo farmers and the state would change," he said.
The Union minister said the ministry has come out with a Vision 2020 document that includes an intense road map for the Northeast in oil and natural gas exploration, extension of production, distribution and research.
He requested both Khandu and Rijiju to go through the document and plan accordingly.
Pradhan proposed to hold a high-level meeting in Arunachal Pradesh to discuss sustainable harvest of petroleum and natural gas resources in the state to augment revenue generation and employment generation. The Union minister hinted that he may visit the state in July again.
Khandu today also called on Union minister of state for communications (independent charge) Manoj Sinha in New Delhi, apprising him on the need for a robust backbone of optical fibre connectivity (OFC) augmented with microwave towers and very small aperture terminal (VSATs).
He said the urgency to have a good OFC network was necessitated for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to be implemented in the state, adding that the existing IT network is not fully reliable.
Khandu told him that 114 locations have been identified on priority with BSNL's broadband, Internet-leased line (ILL) or VSAT for successful implementation of the GST. However, 61 locations neither have broadband nor ILL exchange near the towns and the remaining locations will also need augmentation, he said.
Khandu also requested adequate manpower for RailTel, which is required in at least two per district, to monitor project work in every district.
