Hyderabad, April 12 (RAHNUMA): Telangana is pursuing a focused strategy to emerge as a national model in clean energy, Minister for IT and Industries D. Sridhar Babu said.
Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of a ₹700-crore compressed bio-gas (CBG) project at Narmetta in Siddipet district on Sunday, Sridhar Babu said the State government was promoting a circular economy that integrates industrial growth with environmental sustainability while strengthening rural livelihoods.
The project, being developed by Juno Joule Biofuels Pvt. Ltd., is expected to generate direct employment for around 1,400 people, with women likely to constitute nearly 30% of the workforce.
Referrig to India’s energy profile, Sridhar Babu noted that the country imports nearly 90% of its crude oil requirements and about 60% of its LPG consumption. Reducing dependence on external energy sources, he said, was critical, and clean energy solutions would play a key role in achieving this goal.
The Minister stressed the need to transform rural areas into energy production hubs, adding that the State was consciously working to decentralise industrial growth beyond Hyderabad and strengthen the rural economy.
Describing the initiative as a “paradigm shift”, he said farmers in the region could transition from being “food providers” to “energy providers”. The project will utilise agricultural residues such as paddy straw, along with cattle dung and poultry waste, to produce biofuel gas, thereby converting waste into value, he said.
The CBG initiative will be implemented in a cluster model in three phases, comprising 10 plants with a capacity of 100 tonnes per day each. Inviting investments in Telangana’s clean energy sector, the Minister said the government would extend necessary support to facilitate such projects.
Among those present were Members of Parliament Bhuvaneshwar Khaita and Premachandran, MLA T. Harish Rao, former Union Minister Santosh Bagrodia, former MPs V. Hanumantha Rao and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, and Juno Joule Biofuels CEO Rayapati Nagasharat.
