Minister launches biogas, bio-urja portal

Rahul Jain

A seminar on the “National Bioenergy Programme” was organized by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on November 18, 2022, at the capital. The event witnessed the launch of a biogas and bio-urja portal by R.K. Singh, Union Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, and aims at a hassle-free and transparent application system to potential bioenergy investors across the country.

The MNRE notified the “National Bioenergy Programme” from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026, with an outlay of Rs 858 crore under Phase-1. The three sub-schemes in this initiative include a Waste to Energy Programme, a Biomass Programme and a Biogas Programme. All these schemes were explained by MNRE scientists Vijay Bharti, Vikram Dhaka, and SitaramanMeena, respectively.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) has been administered as an implementation agency for this program by MNRE. IREDA will be responsible for the scrutiny and processing of bioenergy proposals. The event also proposed the “Biogas Standards” prepared by Dr Sachin Kumar, Scientist C, National Institute of Bioenergy, under the guidance of Dinesh Jagdale, joint secretary, Bioenergy, MNRE.

Akash Gupta from Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), presented the socio-economic benefits of bioenergy implementation, followed by a panel discussion among officials from the National Dairy Development Board Mridna Ltd., Noble Exchange Environment Solutions, Sistema Bio India, Punjab Renewable Energy Systems Private Ltd and Punjab Energy Development Agency.