Banas Dairy to build four new gobar gas pumps in Gujarat

Banas Dairy is poised to inaugurate four CNG pumps based on gobar gas during the current year. One of these pumps is scheduled to be established near Radhanpur, another near Vinchhivada in the Patan district, the third in close proximity to Agathala, and the fourth near Bhukhla in the Banaskantha district.

The decision to install these four pumps stems from the success of the initial pump near Dama on the Deesa-Tharad road.

Reports indicate that over a dozen villages near Dama supply cow and buffalo dung to the CNG pump located in Dama, where gas is produced from the dung. Farmers in these villages earn substantial amounts, totaling in lakhs of Rupees, as payments are disbursed twice a month, similar to the payment structure for milk sales.

The establishment of the new four plants is expected to bring significant benefits to the villages situated in the vicinity of the pump locations.

The government has been promoting the bio-CNG sector through various policy measures. The growth of gobar or cattle dung based biogas plants has been quite sluggish owing to financial, market and technology related constraints.

GOBARdhan Begins to Show Promising Results

The GOBARdhan initiative, introduced by the Jal Shakti Ministry to convert waste into wealth through a comprehensive government approach, has begun to yield positive outcomes of late, fostering investments and establishing a conducive environment for Compressed Biogas (CBG)/Biogas. According to the government, as of September 2023, 1163 biogas plants and 426 CBG plants have successfully registered on the portal. These registered biogas plants are eligible for Market Development Assistance (MDA) of Rs. 1500/MT, granted for the sale of the manure produced in the biogas plants.

The MDA scheme, allocated a substantial budget of Rs. 1451.82 Crore over the span of three years (Financial Year 2023-24 to Financial Year 2025-26), is considered a significant boost for the CBG/Biogas sector, according to experts. Additionally, the Budgetary announcement by Nirmala Sitharaman includes the establishment of 500 new ‘waste to wealth’ plants under GOBARdhan, promoting a circular economy with a total investment of Rs. 10,000 crore.