Punjab Govt breathes life into Kalanaur sugarcane research institute
The Punjab Government has decided to transfer the assets and manpower of Kalanaur-based Guru Nanak Sugarcane Research and Development Institute (GNSRDI) to Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) through an MoU.
This effectively takes the institute out of the ambit of cash-strapped Sugarfed, its parent body, and places it in the lap of one of the premier agriculture research institutes.
Ever since the political dispensation changed in the state, Rs 45-crore project, spread over 100 acres of land, was lying in a state of inertia. The construction work, which had started at the fag-end of the Congress government, was to be completed by May 2023. A fence had been erected on the periphery and a part of the main building had also come up. However, when the AAP formed the government, things got stalled.
The government’s indecisiveness on handling the prestigious venture had raised eyebrows among agriculture experts.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had convinced the Kalanaur panchayat, one of the richest rural bodies in Punjab, to earmark 100 of the 1,600 acres of land it had in its possession for the institute.
It was seen as a major developmental initiative, which would provide direct and indirect employment through allied units.
Before the seeds of the institute were sowed, Randhawa had taken a team of experts to Pune to study the working of Vasantdada Sugarcane Institute, considered to be Asia’s premier research station.
The project was established in Kalanaur because it’s the epicenter of sugarcane-rich belt comprising Gurdaspur, Ajnala, Batala, Pathankot, Kiri Afghana and Mukerian.
Shivraj Pal Singh Dhaliwal, Founder Director, GNSRDI, welcomed the government’s decision. “Now, we can see some light at the end of the tunnel. This institute will prove to be a boon for thousands of cane farmers in Majha,” he said.
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