Amit Shah inaugurates Banas Dairy bio-CNG plant for circular economy

Banas Dairy marked a significant milestone in its sustainability-led expansion as Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a Bio-CNG and organic fertiliser plant at Vav-Tharad in Gujarat and laid the foundation stone for a 150-tonne milk powder facility.

The event also witnessed the launch of protein and automated paneer plants, reinforcing the cooperative’s transition towards a circular economy model in the dairy sector.

Emphasising the strategic importance of the newly inaugurated Bio-CNG plant, Shah said it represents the next phase of dairy-led rural growth. By converting cow dung into Bio-CNG, organic manure and energy, the plant addresses waste management, clean energy generation and soil health in one integrated system. This model reduces methane emissions, cuts dependence on fossil fuels and lowers fertiliser costs for farmers, while creating an additional income stream without increasing milk production.

According to Shah, such circular economy mechanisms could raise farmer incomes by at least 20 per cent over the next five years. The government, he added, has put in place the necessary technological and financial ecosystem to replicate the Bio-CNG model across the country. With India pushing for compressed biogas under its clean energy transition, Banas Dairy’s initiative offers a scalable blueprint that links climate action directly with cooperative prosperity and rural self-reliance.

Addressing the gathering, Shah traced Banas Dairy’s journey from a small cooperative formed in 1960 to Asia’s largest milk-producing cooperative, with an annual turnover of around ₹24,000 crore. He credited women dairy farmers as the backbone of this growth, noting that milk procurement and payments in Banaskantha are largely managed by women, with direct benefit transfers strengthening grassroots economic empowerment.

Shah highlighted how improved irrigation and water conservation transformed Banaskantha from a drought-prone region in the 1980s into a multi-crop agricultural belt today. Initiatives such as the Sujalam-Sufalam scheme, which diverted surplus water from the Narmada and Mahi rivers, played a decisive role in this shift. Two universities, he said, have been tasked with documenting the long-term socio-economic impact of water availability and cooperative development in the region.