In an encouraging sign for the Uttarakhand government’s endeavour to promote commercial usage of Pirul (dry pine needles), the entrepreneurs who have started projects to generate power from Pirul have so far collected 240 metric tonnes of dry pine needles. The development is significant since it was only on June 5 this year, that the chief minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat had handed over Letter of Award ( LoA) for their Pirul based projects to 21 entrepreneurs. At present Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the forest department, Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) and entrepreneurs concerned are being entered into. The Secretary, Power Radhika Jha said 12 MoU have so far been signed and the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) has started the process of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the entrepreneurs.
