GOBAR-Dhan Scheme

Context:  Union Finance Minister has announced 500 new ‘waste to wealth’ plants for promoting a circular economy with a total investment of Rs 10,000 crore under the GOBAR-Dhan scheme.

About GOBAR-Dhan Scheme:

• Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources (GOBAR)-Dhan was launched by the Government of India in April 2018 as a part of the biodegradable waste management component under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin.
• The scheme intends to positively impact village cleanliness and generate wealth and energy from cattle and organic waste.
• The main focus areas of GOBAR-Dhan are to keep villages clean, increase the income of rural households and generate energy and organic manure from cattle waste.
• The Sustainable Alternatives towards Affordable Transporation (SATAT) scheme by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) encourages entrepreneurs to set up CBG plants produce and supply CBG to oil and gas marketing companies (OGC/OMC) for selling it as automotive and industrial fuels.

About Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT):

• It is an initiative aimed at setting up of Compressed Bio-Gas production plants and make it available in the market for use in automotive fuels by inviting Expression of Interest from potential entrepreneurs.
• The initiative was launched in October 2018 by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in association with Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) viz. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
• It aims to produce compressed biogas (CBG) from Waste and Biomass sources like
  • agricultural residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, Municipal Solid Waste(MSW) and sewage treatment plant waste and make CBG available in the market for use as a green fuel.
• Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) plants are proposed to be set up mainly through independent entrepreneurs.
• CBG produced at these plants will be transported through cascades of cylinders to the fuel station networks of OMCs for marketing as a green transport fuel alternative.

Source:  The Economic Times