21 November 2020.
Introduction:
A MoU was signed on 20 November 2020 between MoPNG and leading oil & gas marketing companies & technology providers to establish Compressed Bio-Gas CBG) plants across India under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative, in the presence of Union Minister of petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel to boost availability of affordable and clean transport fuels.
Highlights:
- .MoUs were signed with energy companies viz. JBM Group, Adani Gas, Torrent Gas and Petronet LNG for setting up of Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) plants,and with technology providers in CBG sectors IndianOil, Praj Industries, CEID Consultants & Bharat Biogas Energy for facilitating availability of technology for the projects.
- Under the agreement, around 900 Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plants are to established in the country.
- Earlier, the Government of India signed an agreement for 600 plants.
- Together, around 1,500 plants are under execution currently.
- GoI plans to build 5,000 CBG plants by 2023-34.
- The agreement signed will bring in Rs 30,000 crores of investment to set up 900 plants. To set up 5000 plants, a total investment of Rs 2 lakh crores is envisaged.
- The biogas produced from the plants can be used to power automobiles.
- These fuels can be used to reduce the import by Rs 1 lakh crores.
SATAT initiative:The Sustainable alternative Towards Affordable Transportation.
· It aims to set up compressed Bio-gas production plants.
· The initiative was launched in 2018.
· Under the initiative, the CBG plants are to be set up through independent entrepreneurs.
· The targets set under the initiative are as follows
· The ultimate goal of the initiative is to establish 5,000 plants by 2025.
The other sub goals of the initiative are as follows:
- To establish 250 CBG plants by 2020
- To establish 1,000 CBG plants by 2022
- These 5,000 biogas plants will produce 15 million tonnes of CBG per annum. This is around 40% of current Compressed Natural Gas consumption.
Benefits of SATAT initiative
- Additional revenue source for farmers. This will help India achieve its goal of doubling farmer’s income by 2022.
- It will help to boost rural economy
- It will help to reduce carbon emissions
- Compressed Bio Gas will act as a buffer against oil and gas price fluctuations