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The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is set to clear a subsidy backlog of over INR 200 crore for waste-to-energy projects under the National Bioenergy Programme. This was announced after a guideline requiring plants to show 80% efficiency for three consecutive months was relaxed in June. An official said this norm was impractical, as plants often operated at lower capacity without assured off-take. The new rule allows subsidy release based on a one-day demonstration of capacity, and the backlog is expected to be cleared in a few months following post-monsoon inspections.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is working to clear a subsidy backlog of over INR 200 crore for waste-to-energy projects. This initiative is a part of the National Bioenergy Programme (NBP), being taken up after post-monsoon inspections of plants run by biomass pellet developers. Advertisement
An official explained that the delay in releasing the subsidy was due to one or two stringent clauses in the earlier guidelines. One such clause required a plant to show 80 percent efficiency over three consecutive months, which proved impractical. The official said that without assured off-take, plants could not reach that level and often ran at only 60-70 percent capacity.
On June 27, the MNRE amended its guidelines to focus on a plant's capacity to run at the required efficiency, which can be shown even in a single day, rather than insisting on sustained performance over three months. With this change, the subsidy disbursement process has resumed, and the backlog is expected to clear within a few months.
The official noted that in a recent meeting with developers, it was pointed out that it is difficult for them to run at peak capacity during the monsoon. As a result, the inspections will be done after the monsoon season, and it would then take a month or so to clear the backlog.
The backlog was mainly for projects that were approved over the past three years. It typically takes one to one-and-a-half years for a plant to be commissioned. Even after a plant is commissioned, it usually takes three to six months for it to stabilize due to the fermentation process. Such Waste-to-energy projects are considered important for a sustainable future, and the government's support aims to help speed up their implementation.
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