Private sector initiative to help finance small-scale rural enterprises in the country to set up bio-mass energy project have begun, which would not only increase rural incomes but also clean up the environment by utilising crop residue, estimated at 170 million tonnes per year with a potential to generate 20,000 mw power.A US-based organisation, a private bank and an agricultural research institute in Maharashtra have jointly launched a 10-million dollar venture capital fund to finance enterpreneurs to set up biomass energy projects in rural areas.