Bathinda, Oct. 13 -- Encouraged by the organised push by the Centre and the state government to get rid of the environmentally hazardous annual farm practice of burning paddy stubble, this year, Punjab has seen a 30% surge in units that convert crop residue into pellets used by industries for co-firing.

Experts said paddy straw was converted into pellets using the pelletisation process. These can be used at thermal plants for co-firing, a process involving simultaneous combustion of two different types of fuel in the same boiler, often a mix of coal and a renewable fuel, to reduce carbon emissions and manage agricultural waste simultaneously.

The initiative was taken for the first time in 2023 as an ex-situ measure when five such pellet...