Indian biogas sector awaits solar-like policy push at grassroot level: Piyush Sohani, MD, Sistema.bio

1. What makes the decentralization and democratization of the biogas sector particularly important in the Indian context?

Piyush Sohani: I would like to share some data regarding India and then we would understand. the majority of our population lives in rural India which constitutes 60 to 65%. Majority of them are involved in the farming sector and India has the largest cattle population and highest milk production in the world. Rural farmers that are involved in dairy farming are 7-8 crores. Due to the geo political conflicts the LPG supplies to India have constrained. On one hand we have the constraints that are more specifically related with cooking fuel and on the other we have farmers who have huge agriculture waste. If we utilise this biowaste, it would reduce a large portion of our LPG imports.

I give you the example of Solar where you have two types of segments; one is Industrial solar where companies install in MW or GW capacities that translates electricity into the grid for the houses. Second is that the government has now brought PM Suryaghar Yojana where every house can generate electricity by installing solar rooftop. Similarly, the biogas can also be divided into two segments. One is the CBG sector where the idea is to generate biogas at large scale and fill it into cylinders and use those cylinders for CNG or transportation purposes. On the other hand, there is decentralized biogas where cow-dung, farm- waste and other biowaste are used to generate biogas for households’ cooking purposes. We are a big nation and we have got ample resources for decentralised biogas.

2. It’s often said that for managing India’s bio-waste, only big CBG projects are a solution and not small household-based ones. You think its justified?

Piyush Sohani: The mind set changes due to technology acceptance. If you remember, initially in years 2000 to 2005 when the big solar or industrial solar produced electricity would cost Rs 17-18 per unit and everybody thought that it’s very expensive and solar will not be successful. But the government in India and across the world took the bet and invested heavily in solar. The result was that the cost of technology slashed and now the cost of solar electricity has come down to Rs 2 or so per unit. Today solar power is cheaper than the conventional electricity. The biogas is also in that stage today.

3. What policy measures are in place to support decentralized or household-based biogas systems?

Piyush Sohani: Currently there are two schemes in place. One is from MNRE called National Household Biogas Program which ended in March, 2026, and as per hour conversation, the government is trying to increase the period of this scheme to good extent and also increase the subsidy. Then there are other programs like the Gobardhan Scheme. States also have their own schemes; for example, Gujarat is promoting biogas through Swachh Bharat Mission.

4. To what extent do you think these policy measures have supported the growth of the biogas industry, particularly at the household level?

Piyush Sohani: The Iran conflict in West Asia has disrupted gas supplies to India and now the stakeholders are taking the biogas industry very seriously. I think the biogas energy or the renewable energy sector as whole is going to see big policy shift.

5. West Asia has long been marked by recurring conflicts and crises. Do you think biogas has the potential to replace gas imports altogether?

Piyush Sohani: Yes. The biogas actor will not only replace LPG but to good extend LNG imports. We still import 50% of our LNG from Gulf countries. Biogas can be a very good alternative.

6. Is Sistema.bio in a position today to revolutionize biogas at household levels across India?

Piyush Sohani: We have installed more than 1,24,000 units that means that as a company we are replacing 1,24,000 cylinders every month. If the sector grows 10 times or 50 times, companies like Sistema.bio will come into factor and we would start giving sizeable dent to imports.

7. What’s the success rate of your projects?

Piyush Sohani: We measure success rate with something called ‘Drop Out Ratio’ which means families that have stop using the biogas plant. Every year we conduct a random survey for this. The Drop Out Ratio is less than 1.5% and the key reason behind the drop out is migration of families due to which they stopped using that biogas facility. They have not stopped because of the technology or related reasons. Our size of our projects begins from Rs 35,000 for a small family and goes up to Rs 1,75,000 for larger systems. It depends on the number of animals in the farm and family’s energy need.

8. What are the key challenges you face in your industry?

Piyush Sohani: The key challenge is related with the affordability with our customers. We need some policy level support for our customers to see the installations going up to 10,000 – 15000 every month. The solar industry wouldn’t have picked up if there was no PM Suryaghar Yojana.  So, we need a similar kind of scheme for biogas. We also need a policy that would promote clean cooking systems in the country. If Prime Minister can look for solar installations in 1-crore households, then same could be done with biogas industry.

9. What growth do you expect in your business in coming days?

Piyush Sohani: We are leading biogas company. We are doing 2000 – 4000 installations every month. Six months down the line I think the demand would be three times so we would be installing 6000 – 8000 biodigesters every month.

10. How can Sistema.bio remain sustainable despite the biogas industry’s dependence on foreign technologies?

Piyush Sohani: The components of biogas are largely made in India. As far as Sistema.bio is concerned, we make components at our factory in Pune. We produce all of our digesters and other components totally in India. Just a few raw materials are sourced from outside.