GOBARdhan National Circular Bioenergy Scheme

About GOBARdhan National Circular Bioenergy Scheme

• GOBARdhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan) National Circular Bioenergy Scheme  will establish Compressed Biogas as a major pillar of India’s future energy mix.
• It was originally launched under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) in 2018 as an integral component of Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SWM).
• Aim: It aims to transform India’s vast organic waste resources into clean energy, rural livelihoods and economic growth.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) will be nodal ministry for the scheme.
• Duration: It will be implemented from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36.
• Budget outlay: It has total outlay of ₹23,731 crore.
• Components of the scheme: It has been structured around six integrated components:
  • Component 1: Assured CBG Offtake: It establishes a dedicated CBG Offtake Assurance framework to provide a reliable and predictable market for producers.
    • City Gas Distribution (CGD) entities will procure CBG to meet the government’s blending obligations, which have been fixed at 3 per cent in FY 2026-27, 4 per cent in FY 2027-28 and 5 per cent from FY 2028-29 onwards for the transport and domestic gas segments.
  • Component 2: Stable CBG Pricing Framework: It has also introduced an administered CBG price of ₹2,110 per Metric Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) under a government-backed pricing framework with a minimum tenure of ten years to provide long-term revenue certainty for producers.
  • Component 3: Capital Assistance: It also provides capital assistance of up to ₹2 crore per ton per day (TPD) of installed compressed biogas capacity for eligible greenfield projects.
    • The financial support will also extend to feedstock aggregation systems, organic manure processing facilities and value-addition infrastructure, while brownfield projects expanding production capacity will also be eligible.
  • Component 4: Development of Pipeline Infrastructure: It will support the development of both cluster-based and standalone pipeline infrastructure linking CBG plants with trunk pipelines and City Gas Distribution networks, reducing transportation costs and improving access to markets.
  • Component 5: Credit Guarantee Support: A dedicated Credit Guarantee mechanism will be provided aiming at improving access to institutional finance for MSME-based compressed biogas projects by reducing lending risks and collateral requirements.
    • The measure is expected to encourage greater participation by small enterprises, cooperatives, women entrepreneurs and first-time developers.
  • Component 6: CBG Ecosystem Challenge Fund: It establishes a CBG Ecosystem Challenge Fund, which will support district-level planning, feedstock mapping, aggregation infrastructure, technology adoption, capacity building, process improvement and awareness initiatives to strengthen local bioenergy ecosystems.