The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced key amendments to the guidelines for the Biomass Programme under Phase-I of the National Bioenergy Programme, applicable for the financial year 2021–22 to 2025–26. Under the revised framework, several documentation and clearance requirements for briquette and pellet manufacturing plants have been removed. These include the mandatory submission of techno-economic feasibility reports, environmental clearance, site photographs, and long-term sale contracts. Developers can now rely on general sale agreements instead of fixed two-year contracts, improving operational flexibility. Moreover, the option to use Internet of Things-based monitoring or quarterly data submission replaces the previous requirement for supervisory control and data acquisition systems, reducing costs for small-scale developers.
Performance-based central financial assistance (CFA) has been incorporated, offering full disbursement for plants operating at 80 per cent capacity over a 10-hour period. Projects operating below 80 per cent capacity will receive assistance on a pro-rata basis, and projects operating under 50 per cent capacity receive no financial support. The earlier requirement for a three-day inspection at 80 per cent capacity has been replaced with a single 10-hour continuous inspection. Furthermore, the inspection period is now allowed within 18 months of either the commissioning date or the issuance of in-principle approval, whichever is later. The Secretary, MNRE, is authorised to approve extensions in exceptional cases.
Furthermore, pellet manufacturers in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and NCR districts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are permitted to choose between CFA support from MNRE or the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), depending on which is more beneficial. Applicants opting for the MNRE’s CFA must declare that they have not availed benefits from CPCB’s pelletisation scheme to avoid duplication.
