Uttar Pradesh State Bio-Energy Policy 2022 Capital Subsidy

What is the Uttar Pradesh State Bio-Energy Policy 2022?

Uttar Pradesh State Bio-Energy Policy 2022 is the state's incentive package for converting agricultural and organic waste into fuel. The Government of Uttar Pradesh declared the policy in September 2022 with the stated objective of encouraging the setting up of compressed biogas plants, bio-diesel production plants and bio-coal production plants that use bio-energy waste as feedstock.

The nodal agency is UPNEDA, the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency, which sits under the Department of Additional Sources of Energy, Government of Uttar Pradesh. UPNEDA runs a dedicated bio-energy portal at upneda.in/bio covering CBG, bio-coal, bio-diesel and bio-ethanol projects, while statutory clearances flow through the Nivesh Mitra single window system.

Invest UP describes the incentives as being available in addition to the incentives available from the Government of India, which matters commercially: a compressed biogas project can stack state support on top of central schemes such as SATAT and the agriculture mechanisation subsidy.

The headline number is a capital incentive of Rs 75 lakh per tonne, up to Rs 20 crore, for a compressed biogas plant.

Who is eligible for the Uttar Pradesh State Bio-Energy Policy 2022?

Who can apply:

• Private investors, companies, LLPs and partnership firms setting up a compressed biogas (CBG) production plant in Uttar Pradesh.
• Investors setting up a bio-coal production plant.
• Investors setting up a bio-diesel production plant.
• Investors setting up a bio-ethanol project, which UPNEDA's bio-energy portal lists alongside the other three project types.

Who cannot apply:

• Individual farmers and households are not eligible for a personal benefit under this policy. Farmers gain indirectly, by selling paddy straw, press mud, cattle dung and other bio-energy waste to plants set up under the policy.
• Projects outside Uttar Pradesh cannot apply, since the land, duty and lease concessions are all state instruments.
• Projects that do not produce CBG, bio-coal, bio-diesel or bio-ethanol are not eligible. Solar, wind and small hydro projects fall under separate Uttar Pradesh renewable energy policies, not this one.

How much capital incentive does each plant type get?

Because the CBG incentive is per tonne of capacity, plant sizing drives the subsidy. A CBG plant of roughly 27 tonnes per day of capacity would reach the Rs 20 crore ceiling at Rs 75 lakh per tonne; anything larger draws the same Rs 20 crore.

What other incentives does the policy provide?

• Equipment subsidy, a state subsidy of 30 percent of cost, up to Rs 20 lakh, on procurement of boiler, recker and trolley equipment. Invest UP states this is available in addition to the 50 percent subsidy available from the Government of India under the agriculture mechanisation scheme.
• Infrastructure subsidy for approach roads, financial support for construction of a maximum of 5 km of approach road, with a maximum investment of Rs 50 crore under this head.
• Development charges, exemption from development charges levied by development authorities.
• Stamp duty; 100 percent exemption.
• Electricity duty; 100 percent exemption.
• Government land, available on lease rent of Re 1 per acre per annum for setting up the bio-energy industry and for storage of feedstocks. This is one of the most generous land terms in any Uttar Pradesh sector policy.
• Land use and land ceiling: permission under change in land use and under the Land Ceiling Act is deemed, removing two clearances that ordinarily hold up rural industrial projects.

How to apply under the Uttar Pradesh State Bio-Energy Policy 2022

1. Register the project on the UPNEDA bio-energy portal at upneda.in/bio, selecting the project type: CBG, bio-coal, bio-diesel or bio-ethanol.
2. Upload the Detailed Project Report, stating daily production capacity in tonnes, the feedstock tie-up and the proposed site, since capacity is what the per-tonne incentive is computed on.
3. Apply for land, either privately acquired or the government land offered at Re 1 per acre per annum, and secure the lease or allotment documents.
4. Register on Nivesh Mitra at niveshmitra.up.nic.in, complete the Common Application Form and obtain the statutory clearances and NOCs the plant needs under the Renewable Energy sector listing.
5. Claim the front-end concessions — stamp duty exemption, development charge exemption and the deemed land use and land ceiling permissions, using the government orders UPNEDA and the Revenue Department have issued for the policy.
6. Build and commission the plant, then file the capital incentive claim with a chartered accountant's certificate of capital expenditure, equipment invoices and the commissioning certificate.
7. Follow up with UPNEDA through the bio-energy portal or the complaint line until the incentive is sanctioned and released.

How is the policy actually implemented on the ground?

The policy has been operationalised through a series of government orders published by Invest UP and UPNEDA rather than through a single application form. The record on the Invest UP portal includes:

• Guidelines for the implementation of the UP State Bio-Energy Policy 2022.
• A government order on the implementation of the policy, together with an order on stamp duty exemption under it.
• An amendment to the UP Bio-Energy Policy 2022, dated 13 April 2023.
• A Revenue Department order dated 20 April 2023 partially amending the earlier system, to make the setup of projects under the policy smoother.
• An order on the promulgation of provisions related to the Public Works Department, which is the department relevant to the approach road subsidy.
• An order on encouraging private investors to establish bio-coal projects and put bio-coal to other uses.

Anyone preparing a project should read the implementation guidelines and the relevant departmental order before committing capital, because the operative detail; how capacity is measured, when instalments are released, which authority certifies commissioning: sits in those orders rather than in the policy summary.

Why bio-energy incentive claims run into trouble

• Capacity claimed on paper differs from commissioned capacity. The per-tonne incentive is computed on actual capacity, so an over-stated DPR figure is corrected at claim stage.
• Feedstock tie-up not demonstrated, which undermines the capacity claim, since a plant cannot be assessed at a capacity its feedstock cannot sustain.
• Land use or land ceiling treated as automatically cleared. The permissions are deemed under the policy, but the project still needs the paperwork trail from the Revenue Department orders.
• Equipment subsidy claimed without separating central assistance. The 30 percent state subsidy on boiler, recker and trolley equipment sits on top of the central 50 percent, and both need separate documentation.
• Approach road subsidy claimed for more than 5 km, which is the policy limit.
• Clearances not routed through Nivesh Mitra, where the state has mandated that industrial applications be filed.

Key dates

• September 2022, the Government of Uttar Pradesh declared the policy.
• 10 November 2022, the English text of the Uttar Pradesh State Bio-Energy Policy 2022 was published on the Invest UP portal.
• 14 October 2022. The Hindi Bio-Energy Enterprises Promotion Programme 2022 document was published.
• 13 April 2023: amendment to the policy issued.
• 20 April 2023; Revenue Department order partially amending the earlier system for smooth project setup.
• 19 October 2024, the Hindi policy text on the portal was last updated.

No last date for applications has been announced.

Where to get help

• UPNEDA bio-energy portal: upneda.in/bio
• UPNEDA main site: upneda.org.in
• UPNEDA complaint line: 1800 180 0005, Monday to Friday, 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
• Invest UP: +91-522-3129570, helpdesk 0522-3117976, info@investup.org.in
• Single window clearances and grievances: niveshmitra.up.nic.in
• Nodal department: Department of Additional Sources of Energy, Government of Uttar Pradesh

Registration on the UPNEDA bio-energy portal and on Nivesh Mitra is free, and no consultant is required to file a project or an incentive claim.

How to check your application status

Since the policy runs through two separate systems, an applicant tracking a bio-energy project needs to check both.

1. UPNEDA bio-energy portal (upneda.in/bio). Log in with the credentials used at registration and open the project record to see whether the Detailed Project Report, land documents and equipment invoices submitted so far have been reviewed, or whether UPNEDA has raised a query against any of them. A capital incentive claim filed after commissioning shows separately from the initial project registration, so check both entries rather than assuming one status covers the other.
2. Nivesh Mitra (niveshmitra.up.nic.in). Statutory clearances and NOCs applied for through the Common Application Form are tracked on this portal independently of the UPNEDA record. Log in and check the status against each individual clearance, since a project can be cleared on one NOC while another department's approval is still pending.
3. UPNEDA complaint line, 1800 180 0005 (Monday to Friday, 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM). Call with the project registration number or the incentive claim reference if the portal status has not moved for several weeks, or if a query raised on the portal is unclear.
4. Invest UP helpdesk, +91-522-3129570 or 0522-3117976, or write to info@investup.org.in, for questions about the government orders governing the policy or about a stalled clearance that Nivesh Mitra support has not resolved.
5. Written follow-up to UPNEDA or the Department of Additional Sources of Energy is worth keeping on file for any claim that stays pending well past a normal review cycle, since the incentive is disbursed against milestones (commissioning, certified capital expenditure) rather than on a fixed calendar, and a paper trail helps when escalating a delay.

There is no separate SMS or app-based tracking for this policy; the portal login and the complaint line are the two channels UPNEDA actually operates.