AI SummaryUnion Cabinet approved GOBARdhan, the National Circular Bioenergy Scheme, on 6 August 2026 with a total outlay of ₹23,731 crore. Money will be spent from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36, and the plan is to grow India's compressed biogas (CBG) output nearly ten times by turning crop residue, cattle dung, press mud and wet city waste into clean gas and organic manure.
Registration stays open all year on the GOBARdhan portals. Right now 1,750 biogas plants and 1,215 CBG or Bio-CNG plants are registered, and 570 districts already have a biogas plant that is working, finished or being built. Anyone running a plant, or planning one, has to get a registration number first before asking any ministry for support.
GOBARdhan Scheme Registration Online at gobardhan.sbm.gov.in
Registration is online and there is no fee. Two separate portals run now, so pick the right one before you start. Biogas plants go to the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation portal at gobardhan.sbm.gov.in. Compressed biogas projects go to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas portal at gobardhan.eil.co.in. Registering on the wrong one only wastes your time.
STEP 1 - Open gobardhan.sbm.gov.in and click on the 'Register' button in the top menu. Read the short 'About this registration' page that opens, because it tells you the smallest plant size allowed. For biogas plants, designed gas output has to be 10 cubic metre per day or more.
STEP 2 - Click on 'Click here to Register' and fill the form with plant details. You will need the plant location down to district and block, planned or installed capacity, the type of feedstock you will use, and the name of the government or private body that owns the plant.
STEP 3 - Enter your identity and business details. Aadhaar is enough for an individual owner. A company, society or cooperative has to give its registration number or CIN, PAN and GST number.
STEP 4 - Submit the form and write down the registration number that the portal gives you. That number gets checked later when you claim Market Development Assistance on manure sales or ask for support from other departments. CBG project owners do the same thing on gobardhan.eil.co.in, which also runs its own windows for pipeline and biomass machinery support.
Highlights of GOBARdhan Scheme
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Scheme Name | GOBARdhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan) |
| New Full Name | National Circular Bioenergy Scheme |
| Cabinet Approval | 6 August 2026 |
| Level | Central |
| Total Outlay | ₹23,731 crore |
| Scheme Period | FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36 |
| Ministry | Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (CBG part), Ministry of Jal Shakti (village biogas part) |
| Department | Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation |
| Who Can Apply | Households, gram panchayats, cooperatives, gaushalas, dairies, MSMEs and private companies |
| Fixed CBG Price | ₹2,110 per MMBTU |
| Application Mode | Online |
| Official Websites | gobardhan.sbm.gov.in and gobardhan.eil.co.in |
What Cabinet Approved in August 2026
Older support for compressed biogas came in pieces. One scheme paid for manure sales, another for machinery, another for pipelines. New scheme puts all of it under one roof so a plant owner deals with a single set of rules. Six parts make up the scheme.
- Assured offtake: city gas distribution companies have to buy CBG to meet the notified blending obligation of 3 percent in FY 2026-27, 4 percent in FY 2027-28 and 5 percent from FY 2028-29 onwards in transport CNG and household PNG. This gives producers a buyer they can count on.
- Fixed price: CBG will sell at an administered rate of ₹2,110 per MMBTU, and the pricing rule stays for at least ten years, so plant owners can plan their income.
- Capital support: new CBG projects get up to ₹2 crore per tonne per day of installed capacity. Money also covers feedstock collection and manure processing assets, not only the main machinery. Old plants adding capacity can apply too.
- Pipeline work: cluster and standalone pipelines will connect plants to trunk lines and city gas networks, which cuts the cost of moving gas by truck.
- Credit guarantee: a separate guarantee cover makes banks more willing to lend to MSME-run projects.
- CBG Ecosystem Challenge Fund: money for district-level planning, feedstock mapping, training and public information work.
Benefits for Villages and Farmers
Village side of GOBARdhan still runs under Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen, where it sits inside solid waste management. Cattle dung, kitchen waste, crop leftovers and market waste go into a digester and come out as gas and slurry. Gas replaces LPG or firewood in the kitchen. Slurry goes back to the field as manure. Gains show up both at home and across the village.
- Lower fuel bills: a working household plant cuts down LPG refills through the year and saves cash every month.
- Cleaner village: dung heaps near homes go away, so flies and mosquito breeding spots also drop.
- Free manure: bio-slurry from the digester works as organic manure and reduces spending on chemical fertiliser.
- Extra income: self-help groups, milk unions and small operators earn from collecting dung, running plants and selling manure.
- Less field burning: paddy straw and other leftovers get a paying buyer instead of being burnt, which adds to crop residue management support already running in states like Punjab.
- Smaller import bill: every unit of CBG made at home replaces gas that would have been bought from outside.
Who Can Apply and Under Which Model
Four models run under the village part of the scheme, and the right one depends on how much waste you can collect daily.
- Individual household model: for a family picked by the gram panchayat that keeps enough cattle at home to feed a small plant.
- Cluster model: a group of households working with a dairy cooperative, milk union or farmer producer organisation. Three to four cattle per household is the usual bar.
- Community model: one shared plant for the village, run by the gram panchayat with dung collected from many homes.
- Commercial model: big CBG plants set up by companies, gaushalas, dairies and MSMEs. This is the part covered by the new ₹23,731 crore scheme.
Villages with more cattle get first preference when projects are picked, so a place with a large dairy or gaushala nearby has a better chance.
Money Support You Can Get
Support comes from more than one department, so read this part slowly. Under Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen Phase II, every district gets up to ₹50 lakh for community and cluster biogas plants, and this window runs till 2026-27. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy gives central financial support for small plants of 1 to 25 cubic metre per day, with 20 percent extra for the North East, island areas, registered gaushalas and SC or ST applicants.
Once a plant starts selling manure, Market Development Assistance of ₹1,500 per tonne applies on Fermented Organic Manure, Liquid Fermented Organic Manure and Phosphate Rich Organic Manure. Two conditions come with it. Plant must be registered on the GOBARdhan portal, and the manure has to meet Fertilizer Control Order standards. Bigger projects can also use the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, which gives a 3 percent interest subsidy on loans up to ₹2 crore for seven years.
Documents Required
Paper work is light for a household plant and heavier for a company. An individual needs an Aadhaar card, papers for the land or space where the plant will stand, and a bank passbook for the subsidy payment. A company, society or cooperative has to add its CIN or registration number, PAN, GST number, plant or project details and a financial statement. Keep your GOBARdhan registration number with these papers, because almost every later claim asks for it.
Where the Scheme Stands Now
Portal figures show 1,750 registered biogas plants, of which 1,286 are working and 205 are being built. On the CBG side, 1,215 plants are registered, 163 are working and 253 are under construction. District coverage stands at 570 for biogas and 220 for CBG. Government says more than 200 CBG plants have been commissioned so far through SATAT and the older support schemes, and that base is what the new ten-year scheme builds on.
References
Framework for Implementation | Technical Manual | Brochure | Queries or Complaint Help
FAQ's
What is the full form of GOBARdhan?
GOBARdhan stands for Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan. After the August 2026 Cabinet approval it is also called the National Circular Bioenergy Scheme.
Which website is used for GOBARdhan registration?
Two websites, depending on your plant. Biogas plants register at gobardhan.sbm.gov.in run by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Compressed biogas projects register at gobardhan.eil.co.in run by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Is there any fee for GOBARdhan registration?
No. Registering a plant on the portal is free. Costs come only at the construction stage, and part of that is covered by subsidy.
What is the smallest biogas plant that can be registered?
Designed gas output has to be 10 cubic metre per day or more to register on the biogas portal. Smaller family plants of 1 to 25 cubic metre can still get subsidy through the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy biogas programme.
What price will CBG producers get?
₹2,110 per MMBTU under the fixed price set by the government. This rate is backed by a pricing rule that runs for at least ten years, which is meant to give lenders and investors some certainty.
Do city gas companies have to buy CBG?
Yes. Blending obligation is 3 percent in FY 2026-27, goes to 4 percent in FY 2027-28 and reaches 5 percent from FY 2028-29 in transport CNG and household PNG.