500 compress biogas plants to come up by 2023: Dharmendra Pradhan

BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said plans are afoot to set up 5,000 compressed biogas (CBG) plants across the country by 2023.

The Centre intends to move towards gas-based economy by increasing the share of natural gas in India’s energy basket from present 6-7 per cent to 15 per cent by 2022. With the rising demand for natural gas in transport and industrial sector, CBG has been identified as a potential route, Pradhan said. 

Speaking at a road show organised by three oil marketing companies here to sensitise the stakeholders to participate in the SATAT (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) initiative, the Petroleum Minister said the proposed CGB plants meant for extracting biogas from agricultural residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, municipal solid waste, sewage treatment plant waste and municipal solid waste will have an estimated annual gas production of 15 million tonne.

He said the OMCs have already conducted road shows in Chandigarh, Lucknow and Pune to sensitise the stakeholders and they have received an overwhelming response.

Noting that Odisha has great potential to generate CBG, Pradhan said with an investment of about `1.7 lakh crore, this initiative is expected to generate direct employment for 75,000 people and produce 50 million tonnes of bio-manure for crops. 

He said CBG is a replacement for natural gas and can be used in the transportation sector in place of compressed natural gas (CNG). Presently, consumption of natural gas in India is around 140 million metric standard cubic meter per day (MMSCMD) out of which domestic production is only 70 MMSCMD and remaining 70 MMSCMD is imported which is around 50 per cent of total consumption. 

As city gas infrastructure is laid in 19 district of Odisha, the Union Minister said the State will have 1,730 km gas pipeline with investment of Rs 4,500 crores. Out of this, 900 km will be for city gas pipeline worth Rs 500 crore.

“It is estimated that around 500 CBG plants in Odisha may come upon immediate basis. They can supply gas to our PSUs or to local industries. It is added value to the Bargarh 2G Ethanol Plant, being set up by BPCL,” he said. 

Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Sanjiv Singh said ‘SATAT’, a transformational initiative in the green energy space, aims to revolutionise transport sector by introducing CBG in this segment. 

It will help India achieve self-reliance in the energy sector by enabling the country in drastic reduction of crude imports which currently constitute over 80 per cent of its total energy consumption.