A recent press release from the government stated that there has been an “impressive year-on-year growth” in the number of compressed biogas (CBG) plants set up in India, “from only 19 functional plants in 2020 to 125 currently”.
Well, here is something that is not so impressive: In October 2018, when the government launched the ‘Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation’ (SATAT) initiative, it said it aimed for 5,000 CBG plants, with total output of 15 million tonnes a year (equivalent to 54 million MMSCMD, or metric standard cubic metres per day, of natural gas), by 2023-24.
While the government release mentions 125 plants, the SATAT portal says 77 plants have been commissioned, and 17,801 tonnes of gas was sold in 2024-25 — a far cry from 15 million tonnes.
The initiative has faced several challenges such as unremunerative pricing and lack of infrastructure to move the gas.
