Aafrin Kidwai 
It’s official. Uttar Pradesh leads states in setting up plants to produce compressed bio-gas (CBG), followed by Maharashtra and Haryana, according to the petroleum ministry.
Of the 515 letters of intent (LoI) issued to entrepreneurs for setting up CBG plants across the country, 126 projects are located in Uttar Pradesh, 75 in Maharashtra, 59 in Haryana, 35 in Andhra Pradesh, 24 in Punjab and seven in Delhi, the official data showed.
Gujarat received the nod for setting up 32 plants, Karnataka 25, Madhya Pradesh 24, Chhattisgarh 22, Tamil Nadu 16, West Bengal 13, Bihar 11, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Telangana nine each, Jharkhand seven, Rajasthan five, and Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam two each.
A spokesperson of the petroleum ministry said, “The SATAT (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) scheme is expected to have 5,000 plants across the country by 2023 that can produce 15 million metric tonnes of CBG and proportionately reduce our dependence on energy imports.” The estimated cost of the 515 CBG plants is Rs 18,000 crore, reports The Hindustan Times.
Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan had recently said the government has been promoting bio-fuels, including CBG, to increase the green energy mix, reduce import dependence, create employment, especially in semi-urban and rural areas, and reduce pollution.
“Usage of CBG shall assist in achieving climate change goals of India as per the Paris Agreement 2015,” he said, adding the project is in alignment with flagship schemes such as Swachh Bharat, Atmnirbhar Bharat and Make in India.
The business is lucrative for entrepreneurs as state-run oil majors such as IOC and GAIL India take off-take guarantee to such plants. Besides, the government is considering according it a priority sector lending tag for easy and cheaper finance. The government gives subsidy for setting up new CBG projects, which could be availed up to 2020-21, the spokesperson said.
According to Pradhan, the government is in the process of including bio-manure in the Fertilizer Control Order 1985 to make the project more lucrative. Bio-manure is a key by-product of CBG plants.
The move will make it easier for such plants to market bio-manure and provide an opportunity for organic farming. According to the oil ministry, 5,000 CBG plants are expected to produce 50 million metric tonnes of bio-manure.
Picture Credit: Shoonyea, Vidhan Sabha (at day), CC BY-SA 4.0
