India to build 5,000 biogas plants by 2023

India’s minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, announced that an estimated 5,000 compressed biogas (CBG) plants were to be built across the country by 2023, Business Today reports.

The plants, extracting biogas from agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste, will have an approximated annual capacity of 15 million tonnes.

Following the launch of the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative in October, Pradhan outlined to Business Today that CBG will be both identified and promoted as an alternative.

The SATAT initiative’s goal is to predominantly boost the availability and affordability of renewable transport fuels, as well as promote better use of agricultural waste.

It will also provide an additional source of revenue to farmers.

According to Pradhan, the government intends to move towards a gas-based economy by increasing the share of natural gas in India’s energy basket from 6-7% to 15% by 2020.

Pradhan told Business Today that CBG has been identified as a potential solution for the rising demand for natural gas in both the industrial and transport sectors.