Why In News?
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) operationalized guidelines for the GOBARdhan Central Sector Scheme (National Circular Bioenergy Scheme), backed by a total financial outlay of ₹23,731 crore for a 10-year period from FY 2026–27 to FY 2035–36.
What Are The New Operational Guidelines?
The MoPNG Operational Guidelines provide a comprehensive execution roadmap designed to address long-standing market failures in India’s bioenergy sector:
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Unifying Demand, Capital, and Infrastructure: Unlike earlier fragmented initiatives, the guidelines bring together six synchronized growth engines—offtake assurance, pricing, capital grants, pipeline development, credit guarantees, and challenge funds.
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Commercial De-risking for Investors: By establishing 100% assured offtake and 10-year price certainty, the framework eliminates counterparty and demand risk for private developers and institutional lenders.
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Scale Target: The framework aims to drive a nearly 10-fold increase in domestic Compressed Biogas (CBG) output over the next decade.
What Is The Gobardhan Scheme?
Originally launched under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) in 2018, the Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBARdhan) initiative has been restructured into a unified Central Sector Scheme under the MoPNG, officially subsuming the earlier Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) program from September 1, 2026
Core Objective: Establishes framework to transform agricultural residue, cattle dung, press mud, poultry waste, and municipal solid waste into Compressed Biogas (CBG) and organic manure, targeting a 10-fold increase in domestic CBG output over the next decade.
Decarbonization & Foreign Exchange Targets: By substituting fossil fuels, the policy aims to replace 10 million metric tonnes (MMT) of conventional fuels, save over ₹40,000 crore in energy import bills, generate 150,000 direct jobs, contribute ₹75,000 crore to GDP, and abate 40 million tonnes (MT) of CO2 emissions.