Parliament Question: Bioenergy and air quality co-benefits

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3666 ANSWERED ON 24.03.2026 BIOENERGY AND AIR QUALITY CO-BENEFITS 3666. SHRI RAGHAV CHADHA Will the Minister of NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY be pleased to state: (a) the details on the current installed capacity and annual generation from bioenergy (biogas, biomass power, bio-CNG) and trend over the last five years, year-wise ; (b) whether bioenergy schemes have measurably reduced crop-residue burning or unmanaged organic waste in any regions and if so, the details thereof; (c) the key barriers to scaling bioenergy projects, including feedstock aggregation and tariffs; and (d) the manner in which Government plans to integrate bioenergy strengthening into air- pollution and waste-management strategies? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND POWER (SHRI SHRIPAD YESSO NAIK) (a) As on 28.02.2026, the details of installed capacity under bioenergy projects and annual generation from bioenergy over the last five years, year-wise is given at Annexure-I. (b) As per information received from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA): • Biomass co-firing in thermal power plants (TPPs) offers significant environmental and operational benefits, including reduced fossil fuel consumption, prevention of open burning of agricultural residues, improved regional air quality through lower particulate and gaseous emissions. • As of 28.02.2026, the co-firing of carbon-neutral biomass pellets with coal in TPPs has prevented approximately 5.7 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in the country since its inception in FY 2019–20. (c) The key barriers to scaling bioenergy projects are given as under: i. Feedstock Availability: Challenges in aggregation of biomass feedstock and year-round storage. ii. High Capital Cost per MW: Bioenergy projects require significantly higher capital investment per MW compared to other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, if used for generation of electricity. (d) The Government has taken various initiatives to integrate bioenergy for mitigation of air pollution and augment waste management strategies. The details are given at Annexure-II. *****Annexure-I REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO THE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3666, Part (a) TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.03.2026 on ‘Bioenergy and air quality co-benefits’. A. The details on the current installed capacity and annual generation from bioenergy is given as under: Installed Capacity Annual Generation (in Sl No Year Million Units) * Biomass WtE Biogas (MW) (MWe) (Nos.) Biomass Bagasse 1 2020-21 7.05 41.75 23019 3512.978 11302.84846 2 2021-22 60 80.16 0 3482.697 12573.88221 3 2022-23 42.4 75.69 9627 3161.323 12863.15931 4 2023-24 107.3 35.37 13219 3417.188 10825.59055 5 2024-25 387.8 254.41 12067 3738.674 9335.316625 * Source: Central Electricity Authority (CEA) ***Annexure-II REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO THE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3666, Part (d) TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.03.2026 on ‘Bioenergy and air quality co-benefits’. The details of the initiatives taken by the Government to integrate bioenergy for mitigation of air pollution and augment waste management strategies are given as under: I. MNRE supports installation of bioenergy plants under different components of National Bioenergy Programme (NBP) by providing Central Financial Assistance (CFA). This includes biomass-based (non-bagasse based) plants for power generation, briquettes/ pellets manufacturing plants and compressed biogas (CBG/BioCNG) Plants. II. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoAF&W) under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) Scheme provide incentives for management of crop residue. Under this scheme, financial assistance @ 50% is provided to the farmers for purchase of crop residue management machinery and @ 80% is provided to Rural Entrepreneurs (Rural youth and farmer as an entrepreneur), Cooperative Societies of Farmers (Agriculture/ Horticulture/Makhana etc.), Day-NRLM Cluster Level Federations and Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Panchayats for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres of crop residue management machines. Financial support of 65% up to a maximum of Rs. 1.50 Crore is also provided to paddy supply chain projects on the capital cost of machinery and equipment. CRM Scheme is not applicable in the State of Maharshtra. III. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), provides one-time financial support under Environment Protection Charge funds for establishment of pelletization and torrefaction plants to promote utilization of paddy straw. IV. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, under its Biomass Aggregation Machinery (BAM) Scheme, provides support to Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) producers in procurement of biomass collection and aggregation machinery to facilitate efficient utilization of agri- residues and prevent open-field burning. V. As per the information provided by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), under Solid Waste Management component of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) is provided for setting up various type of waste processing facilities such as Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), Waste to Compost (WtC) plants, Bio-methanation plants, Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) processing facilities, Waste to Electricity (WtE) plants, Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste plants, sanitary landfill including CBG plant.