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The Union Cabinet on 6 August 2026 approved GOBARdhan, the National Circular Bioenergy Scheme, with an outlay of Rs 23,731 crore for FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36.
The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, consolidating a Compressed Biogas (CBG) ecosystem previously spread across four ministries.
It fixes an administered CBG price of Rs 2,110 per MMBTU (about Rs 105 per kg) with a minimum ten-year horizon, and capital assistance of up to Rs 2 crore per tonne per day of installed capacity.
A notified CBG Obligation trajectory requires City Gas Distribution entities to blend 3% in FY 2026-27, 4% in FY 2027-28 and 5% from FY 2028-29 in CNG (transport) and PNG (domestic) segments.
The scheme targets a nearly ten-fold rise in domestic CBG output, forex savings of over Rs 40,000 crore and more than 1.5 lakh jobs over the decade.
Launched on 1 October 2018 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas with public sector oil marketing companies IOCL, BPCL and HPCL, to set up CBG plants and market CBG as an automotive fuel.
Key: Targeted 5,000 CBG plants producing 15 MMT of CBG by 2023; actual commissioning has lagged far behind, which is the gap GOBARdhan is designed to close.
Launched April 2018 by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, as part of Solid and Liquid Waste Management, converting animal waste, kitchen leftovers, crop residue and market waste into biogas and bio-slurry.
Key: The 2026 Cabinet decision moves the scheme's centre of gravity from rural sanitation to energy, shifting administration to MoPNG.
Notified by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on 2 November 2022 for FY 2021-22 to 2025-26, providing Central Financial Assistance for bioenergy projects.
Key: Has two sub-schemes - the Waste to Energy Programme (biogas, BioCNG, power from urban, industrial and agricultural waste) and the Biomass Programme (briquettes, pellets and non-bagasse cogeneration). Phase-I outlay was Rs 858 crore.
Run by the Department of Fertilizers to promote organic fertilizers produced at GOBARdhan and CBG plants.
Key: Pays Rs 1,500 per metric tonne for Fermented Organic Manure (FOM), Liquid Fermented Organic Manure (LFOM) and Phosphate Rich Organic Manure (PROM). Rs 111.72 crore released up to 28 February 2026.
MoPNG scheme helping CBG producers buy biomass aggregation equipment.
Key: Total outlay Rs 564.75 crore; 37 proposals approved with assistance of nearly Rs 248 crore as on 16 March 2026.
MoPNG scheme to connect CBG plants to trunk pipelines and City Gas Distribution networks.
Key: Outlay Rs 994.5 crore for FY 2024-25 to FY 2028-29; Rs 56.31 crore sanctioned so far.
Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion of organic feedstock - cattle dung, paddy straw and other crop residue, press mud from sugar mills, municipal organic waste and poultry litter. Raw biogas is roughly 55-60 per cent methane mixed with carbon dioxide and other impurities. When it is purified to remove carbon dioxide, moisture and impurities and then compressed, the result is Compressed Biogas, which is chemically equivalent to the natural gas sold as CNG. That equivalence is the key policy point: CBG needs no new engines, no new dispensers and no new pipelines, so it can be injected straight into the existing City Gas Distribution network. The digestion process also leaves behind bio-slurry, which is processed into Fermented Organic Manure - a second revenue stream that improves plant economics.
Simple Analogy: Think of raw biogas as unrefined ore and CBG as the finished metal - same substance underneath, but only the purified, compressed version can be dropped into the pipes and pumps that already exist.
Nodal ministry for GOBARdhan from 2026; also runs SATAT, the BAM Scheme and the DPI Scheme. The CBG ecosystem was earlier spread across four ministries and has now been consolidated here.
Launched and ran GOBARdhan in its original 2018 form under Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen, as part of Solid and Liquid Waste Management.
Runs the National Bioenergy Programme, which provides Central Financial Assistance to CBG and other bioenergy plants.
Administers the Market Development Assistance scheme for organic manure produced by CBG plants, at Rs 1,500 per metric tonne.
The designated buyers under the CBG Offtake Assurance framework; their procurement delivers the 3-4-5 per cent CBG Obligation trajectory in CNG and PNG.
The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and onward to the Arabian Sea. Iran lies to its north and Oman to its south, and Oman's Musandam exclave gives it control of the southern shore. At its narrowest the strait is about 29 nautical miles (roughly 54 km) across, with two-mile-wide inbound and outbound shipping channels separated by a buffer zone. Around 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and products moved through it in 2025, alongside more than a fifth of global LNG trade, making it the world's most important oil chokepoint. Petroleum from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE exits this way - which is why the PIB backgrounder ties India's CBG push directly to it.
GS Paper 3 > Infrastructure: Energy; Environment: Conservation; Economy: Government Budgeting and Schemes
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Current Affairs
General Awareness > Government Schemes, Economy
General Awareness > Current Affairs
General Knowledge > Energy and Environment
Energy schemes and biofuel blending targets are asked almost every year in UPSC Prelims and are staples of SSC and Banking general awareness.
Purified and compressed biogas, chemically equivalent to natural gas, usable directly in CNG and PNG infrastructure.
Metric Million British Thermal Unit - the energy unit in which gas is priced; GOBARdhan fixes CBG at Rs 2,110 per MMBTU.
Million Standard Cubic Metres per Day - the volume unit for gas output; commissioned CBG plants produce about 0.4 MMSCMD.
The regulated network distributing CNG for transport and piped natural gas to homes; CGD entities carry the CBG blending obligation.
Fermented Organic Manure, Liquid Fermented Organic Manure and Phosphate Rich Organic Manure - the by-products of biogas digestion, supported at Rs 1,500 per tonne under the MDA scheme.
A residue from sugar mills used as CBG feedstock, alongside cattle dung, paddy straw and municipal organic waste.