Guwahati, Oct 29 (PTI) Assam government today saidNITI Aayog will extend all necessary support for augmentingmethanol production of Assam Petrochemicals Limited (APL) byutilising the natural gas available in the state.
According to an official release, NITI Aayog Member VKSaraswat informed this to Assam Chief Minister SarbanandaSonowal during a discussion here.
"Sonowal informed Saraswat that the government isworking to take advantage of the untapped potential of itsnatural resources, while utilising unconventional energysources such as methanol production as a substitute fortransportation and cooking fuel," it added.
The Chief Minister also stated that disposingmunicipal solid waste as a major cause of concern for thegovernment and sought support from NITI Aayog to utilize thesame to convert into an alternate energy source.
Saraswat apprised Sonowal that there is potentialityof methanol production in Assam and its huge coal reserves canbe extensively used for producing methanol.
He also highlighted different sources such as naturalgas, CO2, Biomass, Municipal Solid Waste, kitchen waste andwood for deriving methanol, which are available in goodquantity in the state.
"Oil import is a major concern for India and itsdemand is gradually rising. This has significantly contributedto the country's import bill. As a means of energy securityand clean fuel, methanol can replace the traditional energysources and reduce import and pollution," Saraswat said.
Stating that augmentation of methanol productioncapacity of APL would immensely boost the local economy, hesaid NITI Ayog would closely work with the company to utilizethe stranded natural gas for producing methanol.
The NITI Aayog member also requested the ChiefMinister for extending support to augment methanol productioncapacity of APL along with setting up a Dimethyl Ether (DME)plant and methanol operated cooking gas stove plant in thestate.
Sonowal expressed satisfaction over the proposals putforth by Saraswat and assured him that the state governmentwould work closely with the Aayog for preparing a roadmap forexploiting opportunities for enhanced methanol production inAssam. PTI TRRG.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
