Compressed bio gas plants to come up in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: In order to turn waste into energy, plants will be set up in the state to produce compressed bio gas (CBG) for commercial and household use. The plants will come under sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation (SATAT) initiative of the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas.

The ministry expects that around 500 CBG plants will come up in the state by 2023. “It is envisioned that 5000 such plants will be established across the country with an estimated annual CBG production of 15 million tonnes by 2023,” said Pritish Bharat, state level coordinator to the ministry for Odisha on Friday.

A CBG plant can be established with an investment of Rs 20 crore. Agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste can be used as raw material for the plant and it will produce around seven tonne of gas per day.

An acre of land is needed to set up the plant, but around six acres of land was needed for storage of the raw material. One plant could generate at least 20 direct employment, said the official sources.

This gas will be marketed through petrol pumps run by oil marketing companies (OMCs) like compressed natural gas (CNG). “OMCs are inviting expression of interest (EOI) from potential entrepreneurs to procure CBG and make it available in the market for use as fuel. We will buy the gas from the plants,” said Bharat.

The oil marketing companies like Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) will organise a roadshow on December 16 at Bhubaneswar to attract investment from different companies to set up the plants in the state as well as country.

Roadshows have been conducted at Chandigarh, Lucknow and Pune to attract investors to set up the CBG plants. Some German companies, sugar mills and corporate houses had shown their interest to invest in the sector, said the sources.

“The exact plan and investment figure will come up after the roadshow is over,” said a senior officer of the ministry.

“These plants will not only help us to reduce import dependency but also help the environment keep clean and give extra income to farmers through selling of agricultural residues. The end product of the plant can also be used as manure for agriculture lands,” said Bharat.