Banas Dairy's four Bio-CNG plants in Gujarat's Banaskantha district are currently processing 340 tonnes of cattle dung every day, with the cooperative planning to scale the network to around 200 plants — a move projected to deliver ₹875 crore in direct annual income to livestock-rearing families and produce cleaner fuel for motorists across the region.

PM Modi Set to Inaugurate Key Projects on 30 October

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate and lay foundation stones for five major Banas Dairy development projects on 30 October 2026, underscoring the national visibility the initiative has gained. The event is expected to accelerate the cooperative's clean-energy ambitions in the state.

How the Model Works

Cattle dung — long treated as agricultural waste — is weighed at farmers' premises and purchased at approximately ₹1 per kg. Payments are credited directly to bank accounts every fortnight alongside regular milk bills, making it a seamless addition to existing dairy income streams.

The compressed biogas produced at the plants is sold to motorists at ₹75–80 per kg, a significant discount to the prevailing conventional CNG price of approximately ₹92 per kg in Gujarat. A useful by-product — solid and liquid organic fertiliser marketed under the 'Bhumi Amrut' brand — is distributed to farmers through local dairy cooperatives to support soil health.

The initiative also captures methane that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere from dung decomposing in the open, giving it a direct emissions-reduction dimension. Notably, Banas Dairy reportedly turned down an offer to export cattle dung to Dubai, opting to use the resource domestically.

Scale and Background

Banaskantha has approximately 28 lakh livestock, of which 24 lakh are associated with Banas Dairy. The district generates an estimated 24,000 tonnes of cattle dung daily, making it a substantial feedstock base. The dairy began purchasing dung in February 2020 from Dama village in Deesa, and on 25 August 2020, the country's first commercial-scale compressed biogas (CBG) outlet was inaugurated.

Three further plants were subsequently established at Agthala, Bhukhala, and Vinchhivada under a tripartite agreement with Suzuki Motor Corporation and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). With two additional plants planned at Tharad and Radhanpur, total daily processing capacity is expected to rise to 515 metric tonnes. At full 200-plant scale, the network is projected to generate 1,168 lakh kg of compressed biogas annually.

What Leaders and Officials Said

State Assembly Speaker and Banas Dairy chairman Shankar Chaudhary said the organisation's objective goes beyond milk procurement. 'Through this initiative, India's remote villages will lead the global green revolution towards net-zero carbon emissions,' he said. Chaudhary added that the project, aligned with the Prime Minister's vision of an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', would bring additional income to livestock rearers, improve village cleanliness, provide affordable vehicle fuel, supply organic fertiliser, and create local employment.

India-Japan Biogas Partnership

The Banaskantha model has attracted international interest. Building on this template, India and Japan have jointly launched the Japan-India Co-operative Biogas Initiative, which aims to establish 1,000 biogas plants across the country. This cross-border collaboration signals that what began in a Gujarat district is increasingly being seen as a scalable national and global blueprint.

With PM Modi's inauguration event days away and a Japan-India partnership already in place, the next phase of expansion at Banas Dairy will be a closely watched test of whether this circular-economy model can be replicated at national scale.