GOBARdhan CBG Scheme Guidelines: Offtake and Pricing
Why in the news
Operational rules were notified for the revamped GOBARdhan scheme, giving compressed biogas producers guaranteed buyers and a price formula.
Key facts
- Outlay: ₹23,731 crore, spread across 2026-27 to 2035-36.
- Cabinet nod in August 2026; guidelines notified in September 2026.
- Renamed National Circular Bioenergy Scheme; the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is now in charge.
- Target: lift CBG production almost ten times.
About GOBARdhan
- Expansion: Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan.
- Started in 2018 inside Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), with Jal Shakti’s drinking water and sanitation department as nodal body.
- Idea: waste to wealth and a circular economy.
- Feedstock: crop residue, dung, press mud and municipal organic waste.
How a plant works
- Waste goes into an anaerobic digester, where bacteria act without oxygen.
- This yields biogas (about 55-65% methane) and nutrient-rich bio-slurry.
- Biogas either serves local needs or is cleaned and compressed to CBG (above 90% methane) for vehicles and gas grids.
- Drying the bio-slurry gives fermented organic manure, which farmers use instead of some chemical fertiliser.
What the guidelines assure
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full offtake | City gas distribution entities must buy all CBG from registered plants |
| Pricing | Administered CBG price, revised periodically, for bankable revenue |
| Support | Capital assistance, pipeline connectivity, credit guarantee, challenge fund |
| Registration | Unified GOBARdhan portal |
Related ecosystem
- SATAT (2018): a MoPNG programme where oil marketing companies guarantee to buy CBG.
- CBG blending obligation: starts at 1% in 2025-26 and moves up to 5% by 2028-29.
- ₹1,500 per tonne Market Development Assistance on fermented organic manure.
- Budget 2023-24: 500 waste-to-wealth plants with about ₹10,000 crore investment.
Exam angle
- Full form of GOBARdhan, launch year and original ministry.
- Outlay, duration and new nodal ministry.
- What differs from SATAT: assured offtake plus a pricing mechanism.