Karnal, October 18, 2019: Mr. E.S. Ranganathan, Managing Director, Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), the largest CNG distribution company of India, today performed ground breaking ceremony for setting up India’s first plant to convert paddy straw into Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) for gas grid in Karnal today. This unit will have the capacity to convert stubble generated from 20,000 acres of farmland in a year into gas, which will then be sourced by IGL for its City Gas Distribution (CGD) network in Karnal. This unit has been set up by M/s Ajay Bio-Energy Pvt. Ltd., under ‘SATAT’ (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) scheme on Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) launched by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. Mr. Amit Garg, Director (Commercial), IGL, Mr Ajay Bansal, Chairman, Ajay Bio – Energy Pvt. Ltd. and other senior officials of IGL were also present on the occasion. IGL currently supplies CNG and PNG to Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Rewari, Gurugram, Karnal and Muzzafarnagar.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ranganathan said, “As an organisation committed to providing clean energy solutions to the society, IGL has been proactive in leveraging latest technology in all its operations to ensure that the entire community is able to benefit from its initiatives. Environmental pollution is the biggest concern in the region today and it is our endeavour to reduce alarming levels of pollution apart from creating opportunities for additional income for farmers”.
The Plant will produce maximum of 10,000 kg CBG every day. The Input of plant is majorly Paddy Straw. The plant has the capacity of consuming around 40,000 tonnes of Paddy Straw in a year which will be taken from 20,000 acres of farmland in Karnal district.This CBG Plant will be one of the kind in world wherein Tractors and Earth- movers will run on Local producing CBG. Furthermore the Gensets will also run on CBG. Bio Manure produced from the Plant will be organic and will be used by nearby restaurants and farmers to produce organic food and vegetables. The complex will also be having a retrofitment centre for conversion of tractors into CNG mode. Major tractor manufacturers in the country have already started work towards developing CNG run tractors and they are likely to hit the market very soon. Speaking on the occasion,
Mr. Amit Garg said “This project will be a step in the direction of creating energy self-sustaining villages along with creating a pollution free environment in the region. It will send a positive signal to the stakeholders about possibilities of replicating this model across India to improve quality of life. In the coming future, I see agro-waste management becoming a major area of focus due to increasing environmental concerns’. Stubble burning not only affects soil fertility as it results in loss of essential nutrients but also affects human health. The project aims to convert paddy wheat straw into bio-CNG. In addition to alleviating the ill effects of stubble burning on the environment, this project will also add to the income of the farmers in the region.SATAT’ (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) scheme on Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) was launched by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in October 2018 and this envisages to target production of 15 MMT (million tons) of CBG by 2023, from 5000 Plants.
