Green Rev 2025: Compressed Biogas Key To Achieve India's Net Zero Goals, Says GAIL's Rajiv Singhal

The compressed biogas sector will play a major role when it comes to reaching the net zero target by 2070 set by the government, said Rajiv Singhal, director - business development, while speaking at the recently held Green Rev 2025 summit in New Delhi.

Singhal said that India was generating 7,500 million tonne of animal waste and municipal waste. This can be used to produce compressed biogas. According to the GAIL official, the country has a potential of developing 40 to 60 million tonne per annum of CBG.

Singhal pointed out that India is presently importing 25 milllion tonnes of natural gas. He said that the government is envisaging the creation of 15 million tonnes of CBG, which he deemed, "easily achievable."

He also highlighted that the Centre provides many subsidies for the production of CBG.

GAIL India also reported that it would be partnering with TruAlt Bioenergy Ltd. to create a joint venture to develop a "nationwide network of compressed bio gas plants" to further hasten India's transition to clean energy.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, at the event, highlighted the government's recent actions and achievements regarding green energy.

Joshi said that India was the only country that achieved 50% of installed capacity via non-fossil fuels. "Ethanol blending has gone up to 20% from 1.5%," he said.

Joshi also said that the government had launched the first-ever trials of hydrogen powered heavy duty trucks, with five pilot projects sanctioned to deploy 37 hydrogen fueled vehicles and nine refuelling stations with financial outlay of Rs 208 crore.

Amitabh Kant, a former G20 sherpa also spoke to NDTV about the notable potential that rural communities have to produce biofuels and reducing India's fossil fuel dependence, as it imports $180 billion worth of fossil fuels.

"We are third largest importer of energy across the world, and therefore our economy gets very badly skewed because of this. We need to diversify," Kant said.

He cited Brazil as an example of a country that vastly cut down on fossil fuel dependence and exports.

"For instance, Brazil, if you go there, all cars are designed to run on 90% of biofuels. Every car manufacturer actually redesigned a car for Brazil to enable 90% of ethanol mixing with petrol," he added.

Watch the full conversation here: