Cabinet Approves GOBARdhan National Circular Bioenergy Scheme
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved GOBARdhan, India's National Unified Scheme for Compressed Biogas, with a total financial outlay of ₹23,731 crore. The scheme will be implemented from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36 and aims to transform India's agricultural residue, cattle dung, press mud, municipal organic waste, and other biomass resources into compressed biogas (CBG), organic manure, rural income, and economic value.
Scheme Components and Framework
The scheme establishes six key components to accelerate CBG production nationwide. Component 1 creates an assured offtake framework through City Gas Distribution entities with mandatory CBG blending obligations of 3% in FY 2026-27, 4% in FY 2027-28, and 5% from FY 2028-29 onwards in both CNG (Transport) and PNG (Domestic) segments. Component 2 introduces a stable administered CBG price of ₹2,110 per Metric Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) with a minimum ten-year horizon to provide revenue certainty.
Component 3 provides capital assistance of up to ₹2 crore per ton per day (TPD) of installed CBG capacity for eligible greenfield projects, extending to feedstock aggregation and organic manure processing assets, with brownfield expansion projects also eligible. Component 4 supports development of pipeline infrastructure connecting CBG plants with trunk pipelines and City Gas Distribution networks. Component 5 establishes a credit guarantee mechanism to improve institutional credit access for MSME-based CBG projects. Component 6 creates a CBG Ecosystem Challenge Fund for district-level implementation covering feedstock assessment, aggregation infrastructure, technology adoption, and capacity building.
Expected Impacts and Implementation
Administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, GOBARdhan builds upon previous initiatives including SATAT, Market Development Assistance Scheme, Biomass Aggregation Machinery Scheme, and Development of Pipeline Infrastructure Scheme, which have already enabled commissioning of over 200 CBG plants. The scheme aims to achieve nearly ten-fold growth in domestic CBG production, strengthen India's energy security by reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels, mobilize large-scale private investment, create rural livelihood opportunities, enable scientific waste management, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and expand the organic manure economy through greater production and utilization of Fermented Organic Manure (FOM) and Liquid Fermented Organic Manure (LFOM).