GOBARdhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan)

What is GOBARdhan?

GOBARdhan; Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan, is a multi-ministerial Government of India initiative that converts biodegradable and organic waste, including cattle dung, agricultural residue and other biomass, into biogas, compressed biogas (CBG) and organic manure. GOBARdhan was announced in February 2018 and launched on 30 April 2018 by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

According to the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, GOBARdhan is implemented as a national priority project under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II (2020–2027), and follows a "whole of government" approach, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and the Ministry of Rural Development all support parts of the value chain.

Key objectives

• Turn village waste: dung, crop residue, kitchen waste, into a usable resource rather than an environmental problem.
• Support the circular economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from uncontrolled decomposition of organic waste.
• Give rural households an income stream from dung and organic waste.
• Reduce dependence on imported fossil fuel by producing CBG and bio-CNG.
• Supply farmers with fermented organic manure and reduce chemical fertiliser use.

Main features

• Financial assistance of up to Rs 50 lakh per district to states and union territories under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II for community and cluster biogas plants.
• A unified registration portal launched on 1 June 2023 that issues one registration number to every biogas, CBG and bio-CNG plant in India.
• A national commitment to establish 500 new "waste to wealth" plants — 200 CBG plants, including 75 in urban areas, and 300 community or cluster-based plants.

Who is eligible for GOBARdhan?

GOBARdhan is an infrastructure and waste-management initiative, not an individual cash-benefit scheme. There is no personal application for money.

The following can participate:

• Gram Panchayats, blocks and district administrations setting up community or cluster biogas plants with Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II funds.
• Cooperatives and dairy societies setting up dung-based biogas plants.
• Self-help groups and farmer producer organisations operating plants.
• Private companies and entrepreneurs setting up CBG or bio-CNG plants.
• Individual households installing small family-size biogas plants, where the state or district provides support under its own arrangement.

Individuals cannot apply for a personal cash benefit under GOBARdhan. There is no beneficiary list, no monthly payment and no direct benefit transfer. A farmer or household participates by supplying feedstock to a plant, by joining a cooperative that runs one, or by setting up a plant as an entrepreneur. Anyone offering to "get your name added to the GOBARdhan beneficiary list" is running a fraud.

Plants that are not eligible for portal registration are those outside India, and proposals that do not identify a real site, feedstock source and operator entity.

What documents are required for GOBARdhan registration?

How to apply for GOBARdhan plant registration

1. Open the GOBARdhan unified registration portal at gobardhan.sbm.gov.in. For a compressed biogas project under the petroleum ministry, use gobardhan.eil.co.in.
2. Select One Time Registration and create a user account with the entity's email address and mobile number, then verify with the OTP.
3. Choose the entity type: government, cooperative, private company, self-help group, panchayat or individual plant owner.
4. Enter the plant details: location down to the village and block, plant capacity, feedstock type, technology used, and the current stage of the project: planned, under construction or operational.
5. Upload the entity registration proof, land documents and technical details.
6. Submit the registration and note the acknowledgement number.
7. Download the registration certificate carrying your GOBARdhan registration number from the Registration Certificate section once the entry is approved.

Registration is free and open to plants at every stage, including those already running.

How to get a community biogas plant sanctioned in your village

1. Raise the proposal in the Gram Sabha and get a resolution passed identifying the site and the feedstock arrangement.
2. Submit the resolution to the Block Development Office with an estimate of available dung and organic waste in the cluster.
3. The block forwards the proposal to the district Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) cell, which prioritises proposals against the district allocation of up to Rs 50 lakh.
4. The district unit sanctions the plant and appoints the implementing agency.
5. Once the plant is built, the operating entity registers it on gobardhan.sbm.gov.in to obtain the registration number.

What does a GOBARdhan registration number do?

The registration number is the plant's single identity across the Government of India. According to the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, a registered plant can use the number to seek support and benefits from the various ministries and departments that fund parts of the biogas value chain: capital subsidy schemes, CBG offtake arrangements, and fertiliser marketing support for the manure by-product.

The portal also functions as a national repository of biogas and CBG capacity, which is what investors, state governments and the central ministries use to assess the sector. As reported in the department's year-end review, over 1,100 biogas plants and over 400 CBG plants had registered on the portal.

What can a GOBARdhan plant produce?

• Biogas for household cooking and small-scale power generation.
• Compressed biogas (CBG) and bio-CNG sold as vehicle and industrial fuel.
• Fermented organic manure and slurry, which is sold to farmers and reduces chemical fertiliser demand.

The manure output is treated as a revenue stream rather than a residue, which is central to the economics of a community plant.

How does a village household benefit from GOBARdhan?

GOBARdhan pays nothing directly to a household, so the benefit is indirect and worth stating plainly.

• Income from dung and crop residue. A household that supplies feedstock to a community or cooperative plant is paid for it under the arrangement the plant operator sets, turning a waste product into a small recurring income.
• Cheaper cooking fuel. A family-size or community biogas connection reduces spending on LPG and cuts indoor smoke.
• Cheaper fertiliser. The fermented slurry and organic manure produced by the plant is sold to nearby farmers at a lower cost than chemical fertiliser and improves soil organic content.
• Cleaner village surroundings. Dung heaps and uncollected organic waste are the main sources of flies, odour and contaminated runoff in a village, and a plant removes them from the open.
• Local jobs. Operating and maintaining a community plant, collecting feedstock and distributing manure all create work within the block.

How the GOBARdhan targets are structured

The Government of India has committed to establishing 500 new "waste to wealth" plants under GOBARdhan to promote the circular economy. According to the department's year-end review, this comprises 200 compressed biogas plants, including 75 in urban areas, and 300 community or cluster-based plants, at a total investment of about Rs 10,000 crore.

This is why the unified registration portal matters to a plant operator: the number of registered plants is the basis on which the central ministries plan offtake, subsidy and fertiliser marketing support for the sector.

Common reasons GOBARdhan registrations are rejected

• Incomplete plant details, capacity or feedstock left blank.
• No proof of site tenure, so the plant location cannot be verified.
• Entity documents not matching the name in which registration is sought.
• Duplicate registration of the same plant on both portals without reconciling the details.
• Registering on the wrong portal. A CBG project routed through the rural sanitation portal instead of the petroleum ministry portal, or vice versa.

For portal problems, the helpdesk email published on the GOBARdhan portal is cbg-admin[at]cht[dot]gov[dot]in. For village-level plant proposals, the right contact is your district Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) cell at the Zilla Parishad.