Under NDDB’s guidance, household biogas supply project begins in Chandauli; 120 households connected with grid network

Delhi

A biogas plant with a capacity of 200 cubic metres that utilizes around 5,000kg of cow dung per day, has been commissioned at Akauni village of Chandauli district in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Under the guidance of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), this biogas plant has been set up by Nand Sadan Gaushala, run by a progressive dairy farmer Nagendra Singh under the aegis of SAAF Energy Private Limited.

This information was shared by NDDB in a press release. The project is providing a round-the-clock supply of biogas across 120 households in the village that can be used as cooking gas.

The project was inaugurated by Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, in the presence of NDDB Chairman Meenesh Shah on July 27. Besides this, to encourage the use of slurry-based organic manure among the farmers, NDDB-trademarked ‘SuDhan’ organic manure will also be distributed among farmers.

NDDB helped SAAF Energy design the project, selecting the appropriate Gaushala as well as setting up a system for dung collection. This biogas plant is situated around 5km from Varanasi Milk Union’s Dairy Plant. The project has received financial assistance from Sustain Plus Energy Foundation supported by Tata Trust.

This is the first-of-its-kind project in UP where a piped biogas grid network promoting biogas slurry-based manure has been set up by an entrepreneur.

To operate the biogas plant, a requirement of 5 metric tonnes (MT) of cow dung per day is being met from the dairy animals in the Gaushala, from dairy farms within and outside the villages. The families are getting 1.2-2 cubic metres of biogas supply based on their requirement through pipelines and the bill will be generated based on their usage. Efforts will be made to extend this project to 150 households.

As compared to LPG, biogas will be supplied by SAAF Energy at a concessional rate. SAAF Energy has entirely covered the initial installation costs (flowmeter, valve, stove, etc.) for each of the 120 households.

With this innovative project, villagers will not only get smoke-free cooking fuel but also get a safe and affordable fuel as compared to LPG. It will not only help them efficiently utilize excess cow dung but also avail agricultural benefits from the organic manure made of biogas slurry.