• Union Minister for Jal Shakti C.R. Paatil led a dialogue with Compressed Biogas (CBG) producers and key stakeholders to review the GOBARdhan initiative’s progress.

• The meeting underscored the government’s dedication to transforming organic waste into valuable resources such as CBG and organic manure, crucial for achieving India’s long-term environmental goals.

• CBG operators discussed the excessive use of chemical fertilisers and the lack of a well-defined mechanism for carbon credit trading in the sector.

• Currently, 113 CBG plants are functional, with 667 plants in various stages of development and 171 under construction.

What is GOBARdhan initiative?

• In an effort to make the villages open defecation free and improve the lives of villagers, the government launched Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBARdhan) scheme in 2018.

• The initiative of the ministry of jal shakti aims to transform “waste to wealth” based on the whole-of-government approach.

• It covers the entire gamut of schemes/programmes/policies promoting the conversion of organic waste like cattle dung/agri-residue, etc to biogas/CBG/Bio-CNG.

• It aims to ensure cleanliness in villages by converting bio-waste including cattle waste, kitchen leftovers, crop residue and market waste. This will provide economic and resource benefits to farmers and households.

• GOBARdhan will benefit rural people in general and women in particular from the use of clean fuel, improved cleanliness in villages and through improvement in health. 

• The WHO estimates about five lakh deaths in India alone due to indoor air pollution caused by unclean cooking fuel. Women and children suffer the most, as they spend large amounts of their time near indoor cooking hearth.

• This initiative will support biodegradable waste recovery and conversion of waste into resources, reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reduction in import of crude oil, give boost to entrepreneurship and promote organic farming.

• The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation is working with concerned departments/ministries/state governments, public and private sector institutions and village communities to give this a shape of ‘Jan Andolan’ so that community collective action on GOBARdhan is achieved.

• GOBARdhan is an integral part of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) Phase II under solid waste management. The operational guidelines of Phase-II of SBM(G) provide for financial assistance up to Rs 50 lakh per district for the period of 2020-21 to 2024-25 for setting up of cluster/community level biogas plants.

• The initiative has been undertaken with the objective of scientific management of organic/biodegradable waste while also providing resource and monetary benefits to rural households. 

• GOBARdhan initiative has created an enabling environment for the biogas/CBG sector as evident from the registration of more than 100 under construction CBG plants on the portal soon after it has been launched. 

• It can be inferred that CBG/biogas industry has started flourishing and will play a tremendous role in the energy mix of India’s renewable energy portfolio.

Benefits of the scheme

• Promotes circular economy

• An eco-friendly fuel

• Effective waste management

• Protects health and environment

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions

• Increases employment

• Saves foreign exchange

• Generates organic manure

• Improves savings.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)