The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is implementing 90 projects under its Waste to Energy (WTE) program, Union Minister of Power R.K Singh informed the Lok Sabha.

These projects include seven biogas generation projects with a cumulative production capacity of about 83,400 cubic meters per day, 34 BioCNG projects with a cumulative production capacity of about 248,000 kg/day, and 49 power projects with a cumulative production capacity of about 330 MW.

Earlier this month, the government, in its budget, announced 500 new ‘waste-to-wealth’ projects under GOBARdhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan) program, which will be established to promote a circular economy.

“These will include 200 compressed biogas (CBG) plants, including 75 plants in urban areas, and 300 community or cluster-based plants at a total investment of ₹100 billion (~$1.23 billion),” the finance minister said while listing out the provisions for energy transition in the budget.

Existing monetary incentive for the WTE program

The WTE program has a budget outlay of ₹6 billion (~$73.2 million) for financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26.

This program supports setting up projects for generating biogas/BioCNG/power from urban, industrial, and agricultural waste by providing central financial assistance (CFA).

The CFA available for different projects are as below:

• Biogas generation: ₹2.5 million (~$30,212) per 12,000 cubic meters/day
• BioCNG generation: up to ₹40 million (~$483,428) per 4,800 kg/day
• Power generation based on Biogas: Up to ₹7.5 million(~$90,636)/MW
• Power based on bio and agro-industrial waste (other than MSW): ₹4 million (~$48,343)/MW
• Biomass Gasifier: Up to ₹15,000 (~$181.3) per kWe

Further, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative, envisages setting up 5,000 BioCNG plants with a production target of 15 MMT of BioCNG by 2023-24.

The SATAT initiative encourages entrepreneurs to set up BioCNG plants and produce and supply BioCNG to oil marketing companies for sale as automotive fuels.

Additionally, custom duty concession certificates are issued by MNRE for availing concession on customs duty for the import of machinery and components required for the initial setup of projects for the generation of power and BioCNG from non-conventional materials.

In November last year, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) issued levelized generic tariffs for biomass power projects with rankine cycle technology, biomass gasifier-based power projects, and biogas-based power projects for the financial year (FY) 2022-23.