India Rolls Out GOBARdhan Rules to Strengthen CBG Sector

• 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 ₹23,731-𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘎𝘖𝘉𝘈𝘙𝘥𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘴 (𝘊𝘉𝘎). • 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 100% 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘊𝘉𝘎 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘱𝘶𝘵, 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. • 𝘈 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵-𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘉𝘎 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 ₹2,110 𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 10 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 ₹30 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘉𝘎 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘦.

India has operationalised its ₹23,731-crore GOBARdhan scheme for Compressed Biogas (CBG), introducing a framework designed to provide greater demand and revenue visibility for CBG producers. The operational guidelines issued by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas cover the period from 2026-27 to 2035-36 and bring together measures covering offtake, pricing, capital assistance, infrastructure and financing support.

Under the new framework, eligible CBG producers can opt for assured offtake of up to 100% of their CBG available for sale, subject to technical and operational feasibility. The gas will be mapped to City Gas Distribution entities or identified CBG clusters for aggregation and injection into trunk pipelines. City gas distributors will also have phased procurement obligations for CBG, beginning at 3% in FY2026-27, rising to 4% in FY2027-28 and 5% from FY2028-29 onwards.

The government has also introduced an administered CBG price of ₹2,110 per million British thermal units, equivalent to around ₹98 per kg at 95% methane content, excluding taxes and compression charges. The price is scheduled to remain in place for a minimum of 10 years, until March 31, 2036, although it may be revised prospectively based on factors including production economics and inflation.

The framework also provides capital assistance of up to ₹30 crore per eligible CBG project. Support is available for new greenfield plants, brownfield capacity expansion and upgrading existing biogas plants to produce CBG, while separate assistance is available for feedstock aggregation and organic-manure value-addition equipment. The scheme also includes credit guarantee support, pipeline infrastructure and a CBG ecosystem challenge fund.

GOBARdhan, or Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan, is designed to convert cattle dung, agricultural residue, food waste and other organic biomass into products such as biogas, CBG and organic manure. The new framework seeks to address challenges around reliable buyers and project revenues while supporting greater use of organic waste for energy production and strengthening the broader circular economy.

The framework could create opportunities across CBG production, waste-to-energy infrastructure, feedstock management, gas distribution, organic-waste processing and associated engineering and financing activities. Greater visibility around offtake and pricing may also support investment decisions for businesses considering CBG and waste-to-energy projects.

For organisations evaluating CBG and waste-to-energy opportunities, the new framework brings together considerations around feedstock availability, project economics, resource efficiency and circular-economy value creation. Cognitud’s work across energy transition, circular economy and sustainable infrastructure can support these assessments and help businesses align emerging clean-energy opportunities with broader sustainability objectives.