Vedanta Group on Thursday said that the biomass manufacturing facility of its energy arm, Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd, has played a key role in sharply reducing stubble burning incidents in Mansa district, Punjab.
The company said the initiative has significantly contributed to cleaner air and offered farmers a reliable economic alternative to burning crop residue.
Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd operates a 1,980 MW supercritical thermal power plant in Mansa.
The company has set up a biomass manufacturing facility with a capacity of 500 tonnes per day to produce torrefied bio pellets.
According to Vedanta, data from the district administration shows a major decline in stubble-burning cases in Mansa. The district recorded 2,253 cases in 2023, which fell to 618 in 2024 and further to 306 in 2025. This amounts to an 87 percent reduction in two years and a 50.5 percent drop in one year.
Out of Mansa’s 244 villages, 104 reported zero farm fires in 2025. Earlier hotspots such as Heron Kalan and Dodra, which logged 45 and 31 cases respectively in 2023, reported no cases this year.
TSPL’s supercritical plant cannot use conventional biomass and requires high-density, carbon-neutral biofuels that are not widely available. To overcome this, the company supported the development of Punjab’s largest torrefied bio pellet manufacturing facility near the plant to ensure a steady supply. The unit converts locally procured agricultural residue, mainly paddy straw, into high-value fuel, creating an assured buy-back market for farmers.
Rajinder Singh Ahuja, CEO of Power, Vedanta Ltd, said that effective stubble management is crucial for improving Punjab’s air quality. He said TSPL’s collaboration with farmers and partners across the stubble to biofuel value chain has helped create economic incentives for farmers and contributed to the sharp decline in farm fires in Mansa over the last two years.