643 Gobardhan Plants Setup Under Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen

Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources dhan (GOBARdhan), launched in 2018, is an integral component of Solid Waste Management under Phase-II of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) for ensuring cleanliness in villages by converting organic/biodegradable waste including cattle dung, kitchen leftovers, crop residue and market waste etc. into biogas and bio-slurry to improve the lives of villagers. Under SBM-G, financial assistance   of up to Rs.50 lakhs per district is available for the entire programme period from 2020-21        to 2024-25 for setting up of community level biogas plant(s). The year wise progress is as under:-

No. of completed biogas plants

 

2018- 19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24 (as on 17.7.2023)	Total
14	100	191	97	181	60	643

 

As informed by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, there is no mandate on compressed bio-gas for all organizations marketing natural and biogas in the country as on date. However, Budget 2023-24 announced a 5% CBG mandate for all organizations marketing natural and biogas.

As per Budget Announcement 2023-24, 500 new ‘waste to wealth’ plants under GOBARdhan scheme will be established for promoting circular economy. These will include 200 compressed biogas (CBG) plants, including 75 plants in urban areas, and 300 community or cluster-based plants. These plants will be established primarily by private sector with support from stakeholder Ministries/Departments.

The stakeholder Ministries/Departments have put in place several enablers for GOBARdhan such as inclusion of loans for setting up of CBG plants under Priority Sector Lending, inclusion of Fermented Organic Manure (FOM)/ Liquid Fermented Organic Manure (LFOM) under Fertilizer Control Order (FCO), CBG plants producing FOM & LFOM with zero discharge considered under White category by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), revision in CBG procurement price under Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) & CBG price indexing with RSP of CNG/CBG, development of a Unified Registration Portal for GOBARdhan, scheme for Market Development Assistance (MDA) to promote organic fertilizers produced from GOBARdhan plants, exemption of central excise duty to CNG blended with CBG to prevent double taxation, exemption for requirement of authorization letter for sale of FOM/LFOM (Bio- slurry) for a period of three years, inclusion of CBG in the list of activities for trading of carbon credit under bilateral/cooperative approaches etc. Some more enablers are also under        consideration by various stakeholder Ministries/Departments including schemes for financial support for biomass collection and extension of pipeline connectivity from the CBG plants to the city gas distribution grid.

Other measures include constitution of Inter-Ministerial Task Force for smooth coordination between                    stakeholder    Ministries/Departments,    periodic    review    of    progress,    regular

interaction with stakeholders like CBG operators, State Govt. officials, Fertilizers PSUs and regular review meetings etc. for monitoring of progress as well as interventions required to speed up the progress.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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AS