India’s compressed biogas (CBG) expansion is becoming an offtake and connectivity challenge, with producers needing reliable access to city gas distribution (CGD) networks and viable routes to market as output rises. As blending targets increase, the sector will need to address the distance between production sites and gas infrastructure, create demand around remote plants and ensure that existing networks can absorb additional CBG volumes.
Offtake Needs Better Connectivity
The issue was raised during a panel discussion on the CBG and gas ecosystem at the Third Edition of India Bioenergy & Tech Expo, where producers, CGD representatives and technology providers discussed the infrastructure and commercial arrangements needed to connect CBG production with consumers. The panellists highlighted the challenges faced by plants located away from existing gas networks, including the need for alternative offtake routes and commercially viable ways to bring CBG closer to demand centres.
India currently has 216 operating CBG plants with a cumulative capacity of roughly 1,700 tonnes per day, while blending remains at around 1 per cent, according to Ashish Kumar, Managing Director, Verbio India. He said raising the utilisation of existing plants could help meet higher blending requirements. The challenge lies not only in expanding production capacity but also in ensuring that the gas produced can be effectively taken to consumers.
The connectivity problem is particularly significant for plants located away from existing gas infrastructure. Ashish said his company's plant is located 140 kilometres from the grid and has experienced different offtake arrangements, including sales to retail outlets and decompression units, while pipeline connectivity was not viable.
Ankit Kohli, Founder & Managing Director, Sanmish, said the sector had moved beyond the initial viability challenge but still needed to address connectivity. “We have overcome the viability gap, but we have to overcome the connectivity gap now.” He added that the grid and station infrastructure alone would not create demand, pointing instead to the need for a wider network and measures to build CNG consumption.
Kohli also referred to the experience of areas where stations were opened without sufficient demand, contrasting this with markets where stations were developed at closer intervals and demand grew alongside vehicle conversions. CBG offtake will therefore require demand creation alongside physical connectivity rather than infrastructure expansion alone.
Grid Injection Raises Quality Bar
Grid injection could provide a wider market for CBG producers, but it also makes gas quality and consistency central to the scale-up. Sumit Kishore, Executive Director (Gas Marketing), GAIL India, said the industry, including CBG producers, CGD entities, pipeline operators and customers, would need to demonstrate that the infrastructure and framework created for CBG can operate effectively as volumes rise.
“The molecule has to be injected to the CGD and to the CGD consumer,” Kishore said. The quality of gas entering the network could not be compromised, and different infrastructure configurations would have to be assessed depending on individual plant locations.
Sumit also pointed to the possibility of using different approaches depending on individual plants, including clustering plants and optimising pipeline distances and pressure requirements. This means grid connectivity may not follow a single model across the CBG sector, with the appropriate arrangement depending on plant location and network availability.
The technical requirements also have a direct bearing on project economics. Tushar Patil, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Praj Industries, said purification and operating systems need to be fine-tuned according to the location and feedstock. Higher purification requirements can also increase both capital and operating costs.
“One is quality of the gas and the second one is consistent production of gas,” Patil said. Technology providers would need to work with project developers to identify an appropriate balance between gas quality, production efficiency and the cost of synchronising plants with CGD networks.
Patil also highlighted the importance of online monitoring and digitalisation in maintaining consistent gas quality and plant performance. This would become more relevant as CBG producers seek to connect with existing CGD infrastructure.
India’s CBG scale-up faces a gap between producing the gas and ensuring that it can be commercially and physically absorbed into the gas network. Rising blending requirements will require stronger links between CBG plants and CGD networks, greater connectivity for remote plants and demand creation around production sites where direct pipeline access is not viable.
The next phase of growth will therefore depend not only on how much CBG can be produced, but also on whether existing gas infrastructure can absorb it reliably and economically. Grid injection, network optimisation and consistent gas quality will become increasingly important as CBG volumes and blending requirements rise.