Centre to launch Sampoorn Gobardhan Scheme on August 10 to boost CBG production

New Delhi: The Centre is set to launch the Sampoorn Gobardhan Scheme on August 10, observed as World Biofuel Day, to help accelerate compressed biogas (CBG) production by providing higher assured procurement prices for CBG and enhanced capital subsidies for new projects, said senior officials.

The proposal is expected to receive Cabinet approval at its next meeting. The move comes eight years after the launch of the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme, under which only 219 CBG plants are operational against the target of 5,000, according to official portal data. This is the case even as more than 1,094 letters of intent have been issued under SATAT, highlighting execution challenges the new scheme seeks to address.

Officials said the higher subsidies and improved offtake prices under the new scheme could help set up another 600-700 CBG plants over the next year alone. The urgency has increased with the compressed biogas obligation becoming a legal requirement. Under this obligation, city gas distributors are required to blend CBG with compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG) supplies. Officials said the current pace of capacity addition is inadequate to meet the higher blending targets over the next three years, making fresh investments critical.


The mandatory blending requirement increased to 3% in 2026-27 from 1% in 2025-26. It will increase to 4% in 2027-28 and 5% from 2028-29 onwards. While the obligation was voluntary initially, it became mandatory from April 2025. The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell monitors compliance. City gas distributors and oil marketing companies are required to submit quarterly reports. India's CNG and domestic PNG segments consume around 34-35 million metric standard cubic metres of gas a day (MMSCMD). A 1% blending mandate requires about 0.35 MMSCMD of CBG, translating into an annual demand of about 260,000-300,000 tonnes. Current supply has crossed the initial target with daily CBG sales of 0.63-0.66 MMSCMD, equivalent to nearly 2% blending.

The CBG sector is drawing hefty investments from conglomerates and state-run energy firms as the country accelerates its clean energy transition. Reliance Industries is leading the race with planned investments of ₹1.4 lakh crore, including ₹65,000 crore for 500 plants in Andhra Pradesh and ₹75,000 crore for 350 plants in the Northeast while targeting 500 plants nationwide by 2030. Adani TotalEnergies is developing five CBG plants, including a 600 tonnes per day facility in Uttar Pradesh, and Suzuki Motor Corporation plans at least five cow dung-based biogas plants in Gujarat.

"The framework seeks to address key bottlenecks holding back the sector, including feedstock availability and demand certainty. Unless developers have assured offtake and viable prices, capacity addition will remain slow. The framework is designed to address that," said one official.