Oil India CBG Haryana, Green Arm Inks MoUs for 5,000 TPD Waste-to-Energy Plants

General Studies Paper III: Sustainable Development, Government Policies & Interventions

Why in News?

Recently, Oil India’s green-energy arm signed MoUs with four Haryana municipalities to process 5,000 TPD municipal waste, advancing circular-economy and clean-energy goals.

Oil India–Haryana MoUs Highlights

Partnership: On 30 August 2026, OIL Green Energy Limited (OGEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Maharatna CPSE Oil India Limited (OIL), signed MoUs with four Haryana municipalities.
- The partnership aims to develop integrated Compressed Biogas (CBG) and Waste-to-Energy projects across four regional clusters.
Four-Cluster Project: The proposed facilities will be located in the Hisar, Ambala, Faridabad and Gurugram clusters.
- It combines waste processing, resource recovery, CBG production and electricity generation within an integrated system.
- The Hisar cluster will have a proposed processing capacity of 500 tonnes per day (TPD).
  - It will cover urban local bodies in Hisar, Hansi, Fatehabad and Jind districts and is expected to generate at least 5 MW of energy.
- The Ambala cluster will process approximately 900 TPD of municipal waste. It will cover urban local bodies in Ambala, Yamunanagar and Panchkula districts, with expected energy generation of at least 9 MW.
- The Faridabad facility represents a larger regional installation, with a planned processing capacity of 1,600 TPD.
  - It is expected to generate a minimum of 16 MW, the higher waste load of the urban cluster.
- The Gurugram project will be the largest among the four, with a proposed capacity of 2,000 TPD and expected generation of at least 20 MW.
Processing Capacity: Together, the four facilities are designed to scientifically process 5,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day.
- The integrated projects are expected to produce approximately 70–75 TPD of CBG along with 50 MW of green power.
- These are projected outputs, not current operational production figures.
Operational Timeline: The Haryana Government has stated that all four plants are expected to become operational by October 2028.
- The present development should be understood as a project-development commitment.

Waste-to-Clean-Energy Model: CBG, Recycling and Power Generation

Integrated Resource-Recovery Approach: The proposed Haryana facilities are based on an integrated waste-processing model.
- Municipal solid waste will first undergo scientific pre-processing and segregation.
- Segregation is fundamental because municipal waste contains organic, recyclable and combustible fractions with different treatment requirements.
  - Separating these streams improves material recovery and prevents valuable resources from being unnecessarily sent to landfills.
- The recyclable fraction will be recovered during processing. Materials suitable for recycling can re-enter manufacturing chains, reducing demand for virgin resources and strengthening the resource-efficiency dimension of the circular economy.
- The wet and biodegradable fraction will be used for Compressed Biogas (CBG) production.
  - Organic waste can undergo anaerobic biological treatment to generate biogas, which can subsequently be purified and compressed into CBG suitable for clean-fuel applications.
    - CBG is purified biogas with a high methane content that can serve as a renewable alternative to conventional natural gas and CNG in appropriate applications.
    - Its production converts biodegradable waste into a usable energy commodity.
- The non-recyclable dry fraction will be directed towards the Waste-to-Energy component for electricity generation.
  - This is important because the model seeks to reserve energy recovery for waste that cannot be economically recycled.

Government Policies: Circular Economy and Waste-to-Wealth

GOBARdhan 2026: A major national policy linkage is the GOBARdhan – National Circular Bioenergy Scheme, approved by the Union Cabinet on 6 August 2026.
- It has an outlay of ₹23,731 crore for FY 2026–27 to FY 2035–36 and seeks to significantly expand India’s CBG ecosystem.
- The scheme seeks to convert agricultural residue, cattle dung, press mud, municipal organic waste and other biomass into clean fuel, organic manure and economic value.
SATAT Initiative: The Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative created an institutional framework for expanding CBG production and its use as an alternative transport fuel.
- It was launched in October 2018 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
- Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs)—such as IOCL, BPCL, and HPCL—offer floor prices and upfront commercial agreements to buy the produced CBG.
- The sector has expanded further through complementary tools like the Market Development Assistance Scheme.
CBG Blending Obligation: India has also introduced phased CBG blending obligations for CNG used in transport and PNG for domestic purposes.
- It aims to lower reliance on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), save foreign exchange, cut costs on energy imports, support India’s target of net-zero emissions and turn agricultural and organic waste into useful fuel.
- The annual targets were set at 1% for FY 2025–26, 3% for FY 2026–27 and 4% for FY 2027–28, creating a demand-side policy signal for CBG.
National Bioenergy Programme: The National Bioenergy Programme supports projects involving biogas, Bio-CNG/CBG, power and producer/syngas from eligible waste and residues.
- It was notified on November 2, 2022, planned in two phases with Phase-I covering the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
  - Phase-I covered with an outlay of ₹858 crore.
- It provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to project developers, with 20% additional CFA for special categories like the North East Region, hilly states, and SC/ST beneficiaries.
- Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) handles program implementation.
- It uses the BioUrja Portal as a single-window platform for online applications and tracking.
Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban: Waste-to-energy and waste-to-biogas projects also connect with Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban.
- Government support has included assistance for municipal solid-waste-based CBG projects, linking urban cleanliness with resource recovery and energy generation.
- Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-U 2.0) drives urban waste processing, 3R principles (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), and legacy dumpsite remediation.
Solid Waste Management Rules: India’s updated Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 took effect on April 1, 2026.
- It replaced the older 2016 framework to mandate four-stream source segregation and strict digital tracking of municipal waste.
- The provisions:
  - Generators must sort waste at source into wet waste (kitchen/food organics), dry waste (recyclables like plastic and paper), sanitary waste (diapers and napkins), and special care waste (medicines and bulbs).
  - Entities generating over 100 kg of waste per day, consuming 40,000 liters of water daily, or having a floor area of 20,000 square meters must handle wet waste on-site or follow Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility (EBWGR).
  - State boards can levy financial environmental compensation for illegal dumping, false reporting, or lack of registration.
  - A centralized online portal managed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) tracks regional waste generation, auditing, and compliance.
  - Landfills are restricted strictly to non-recyclable inert residues, penalizing unsegregated dumping.

Environmental Significance

Reducing Dependence on Landfills: The most direct environmental benefit is the potential reduction in landfill dependence. Processing 5,000 tonnes of municipal waste daily could divert a substantial quantity of waste from conventional disposal pathways.
Addressing Methane Generation: Organic waste deposited under oxygen-limited landfill conditions can generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
- Diverting biodegradable material towards controlled biological treatment can therefore help address emissions associated with unmanaged organic waste.
Leachate and Groundwater Protection: Poorly managed waste dumps can generate leachate, which may contaminate surrounding soil and groundwater.
- Scientific processing and controlled disposal of residual waste can reduce these risks compared with uncontrolled dumping.
Reducing Open-Dumping Pressure: Large urban waste volumes can create expanding dumpsites, producing problems including odour, fires, air pollution, vector proliferation and land degradation.
- Integrated processing provides an alternative pathway for handling waste before final disposal.
Climate Benefits of CBG: Producing CBG from organic waste can provide a renewable substitute for a portion of conventional gaseous fuels.
- Government policy identifies CBG as having potential to reduce natural-gas imports, greenhouse-gas emissions and waste-related pollution, while creating additional economic opportunities.
Resource Conservation through Recycling: Recovering recyclable materials reduces the need for virgin raw materials. Thus, the environmental value of the project is not limited to electricity and CBG; material recovery is an equally important part of its circular-economy potential.
Energy Recovery from Residual Waste: Using the non-recyclable dry fraction for energy recovery follows a resource hierarchy in which materials unsuitable for recycling can still yield energy.
- However, energy recovery should not become an incentive to mix recyclable and biodegradable waste.
SDG Linkages: The initiative has clear conceptual linkages with SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) through improved waste management, resource recovery and potential emissions reduction.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

1. What is the MoU signed by Oil India’s green arm with Haryana municipalities?

OIL Green Energy Limited signed MoUs to develop integrated CBG and Waste-to-Energy projects processing 5,000 TPD municipal waste.

2. Which Haryana municipalities have signed the MoU with Oil India’s green arm?

The participating municipalities are Gurugram, Faridabad, Hisar and Ambala, covering four regional waste-processing clusters.

3. Why is Oil India partnering with Haryana municipalities for CBG production?

The partnership aims to convert municipal waste into clean energy, reduce landfilling, recover resources and expand Oil India’s low-carbon energy portfolio.

4. What is Compressed Biogas (CBG)?

CBG is purified biogas, mainly methane-rich, produced from organic waste and compressed for use as a cleaner gaseous fuel.

5. How can municipal waste be converted into CBG?

Wet biodegradable waste undergoes scientific processing and anaerobic digestion, producing biogas that is purified and compressed into CBG.

6. How will the project help Haryana’s waste management system?

It will scientifically process 5,000 TPD waste, recover recyclables, convert organic waste into CBG, generate power, and reduce landfill dependence.

Disclaimer: Information in this article is based on official announcements and public records. Regulations and implementation details may evolve over time.