As per the information given in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha, the minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, Rameswar Teli stated that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG) launched Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) in October 2018. The initiative envisages setting up of 5,000 compressed biogas (CBG) plants for production of 15 million metric tonnes (MMT) per annum of CBG by 2023-24.
As on October 31, 2022, the oil and gas marketing companies participating in SATAT issued 3,694 letters of intent (LoI) to entrepreneurs for procurement of CBG produced by them. Further, 38 CBG or biogas plants with installed capacity around 225 MT per annum have been commissioned by the LoI holders. The first phase of the umbrella scheme of National Bioenergy Programmes of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy which provides central financial assistance to all forms of biogas plants has been extended up to March 31, 2026.
In order to reduce import dependency of the country on fossil fuels, the Indian government has taken multiple steps and has launched various policy initiatives to increase the domestic production of crude oil and natural gas. Also, many strategies have been adopted for the promotion of biofuels, gas-based economy, energy efficiency and energy conservation, improvement in refinery process and increasing renewable energy generation capacity.
