536 CBG & 1193 biogas plants registered under GOBARdhan: Government

The Ministry of Jal Shakti has said that 536 Compressed Biogas (CBG) Plants and 1193 biogas plants have been registered on the Unified Registration Portal for GOBARdhan since its launch in June 2023.

The official statement held that the budget announcement 2023 provided a major fillip to this transformative initiative by announcing establishment of “500 new “waste to wealth” plants with an investment of Rs. 10,000 Crore.

During FY 2023-24, 198 plants were set up which includes12 Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants and 186 biogas plants. Further, 556 plants are under construction which include 129 CBG plants as well as 427 biogas plants.

Recently, the government announced that over 50 CBG plants have been established in India.

Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan or GOBARdhan is a major multi-ministerial initiative of the Central Government, aimed at converting organic waste, including cattle dung and agricultural residues and other biomass, into biogas, compressed biogas (CBG), and organic manure. This promotes a circular economy through a novel “Whole of Government” approach.

Promoting Biogas/CBG

The Government has taken several steps to promote the implementation of the GOBARdhan initiative at speed and scale. CBG is included in the list of activities for trading of carbon credits under bilateral/ cooperative approaches. This will help CBG plant owners to generate extra revenue through trading of carbon credits.

Central excise duty exemption has been provided to CNG blended with CBG to prevent double taxation

Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme is approved and implementation started to incentivize sale and marketing of FOM/LFOM (a by-product from GOBARDhan plants) inter-alia promoting organic farming.

Extension of CBG- CGD synchronization scheme of MoPNG for 10 years i.e. up to 2024 to strengthen production and consumption of CBG

National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) has approved phase wise introduction of mandatory 5 % CBG blending to strengthen production and consumption of CBG

The government says that through the existing and upcoming policy enablers in the Biogas/CBG sector, the ultimate vision of the Government is to expand the reach, awareness and implementation of Biogas/CBG plants and make the industry lucrative for private sector investment.