Minister for Water and Power Ch Ahmed Mukhtar on Thursday approved the Draft National Policy for co-generation by utilising bagasse and Biomass and asked the ministry to submit it to the relevant forum for formal approval. He said this while presiding over a meeting on fast track development of bagasse based power generation projects held here on Thursday in the office of Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB). The PPIB managing director, NTDC managing director, AEDB CEO, JS Power, JS Entities, a delegation of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) headed by Shunaid Qureshi, senior officials of AEDB and Ministry of National Food Security attended the meeting. It was recommended that upfront tariff would be given for fast track power generation projects. The power producers shall have the option to offer energy to the respective DISCOs or to the CPPA. The meeting also proposed simplified procedure and reduction in the time line. It shall be mandatory for the power purchaser to buy all the energy offered it by power producer. All general, financial and fiscal incentives available to renewable energy projects of RE policy 2006 will be applicable to the bagasse-based projects. The minister said the government is utilising all the resources to end the energy crisis and the power generation from bagasse would be another step to produce electricity from indigenous resources. He appreciated the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) for taking interest in the bagasse-based power projects and assured to provide full cooperation. It is also the desire of the President Asif Ali Zardari that sugarcane bagasse should be utilised for cheaper power generation. Initially 1,000 megawatts (MW) would be completed on fast track basis, he added. Earlier, the meeting was briefed by the AEDB and PSMA that Pakistan is the fifth largest producer of sugarcane, produces 50 million tonnes of sugarcane annually, yielding over 10 million tonnes of bagasse. Power generation from bagasse would not only reduce the furnace oil import even save 33 billion of foreign exchange per annum. The country has 87 sugar mills with a capacity to generate 3,000 MW electricity from bagasse in winter season. staff report