The Centre has launched GOBARdhan, a ten-year central sector scheme to raise compressed biogas output nearly ten-fold and reduce India's dependence on imported natural gas.

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• Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched GOBARdhan, a Central Sector Scheme for the compressed biogas (CBG) sector, on October 1, 2026.
• The Union Cabinet had approved the scheme on August 6, 2026, with a total outlay of ₹23,731 crore.
• The scheme provides a ten-year framework from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36, aimed at giving investors and lenders greater certainty.
• It targets a nearly ten-fold rise in domestic CBG production, to around 5 million standard cubic metres per day.
• Six interventions anchor the scheme: offtake assurance, a pricing framework, capital assistance, pipeline infrastructure, credit guarantee support and an ecosystem challenge fund.
• City gas distribution entities must buy CBG for CNG (transport) and PNG (domestic) at 3% in FY 2026-27, 4% in FY 2027-28 and 5% from FY 2028-29.
• Eligible greenfield projects can receive capital assistance of up to ₹2 crore per tonne per day of installed CBG capacity.
• The ministry says the scheme offers assured gas pricing of around $20-21 per MMBtu for ten years, giving producers long-term price visibility.
• A credit guarantee mechanism has been introduced to help smaller enterprises raise financing for CBG projects.
• Crop residue, cattle dung and other organic waste are the feedstock, with farmers, cooperatives and gaushalas able to take part in collection and processing.
• The scheme builds on the earlier SATAT initiative, and a GOBARdhan Handbook and Unified GOBARdhan Portal were released at the launch.
• The government expects over ₹40,000 crore in foreign-exchange savings, more than ₹75,000 crore added to GDP and over 1.5 lakh jobs.