Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, announced that the Delhi government will sign an agreement with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) within the coming week to process cattle dung into biogas and organic fertiliser, ensuring that not a single kilogram of cow dung enters the Yamuna river. The announcement, framed around a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, also links the initiative to Delhi's newly launched EV Policy as part of a broader vision for a greener capital.

Context

Quoting Home Minister Amit Shah, CM Gupta shared his words: 'Hum NDDB ke saath agle saptah samझौता kar, 1 kilo gobar bhi Yamuna ji mein na jaye, is prakar ki vyavastha karenge' — ('We will sign an agreement with NDDB next week and make arrangements so that not even 1 kg of cow dung enters the Yamuna.'). Shah further stated that the BJP's central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Delhi government together will process dung to produce gas and natural fertiliser, making a 'very large contribution' to the purification of the Yamuna.

The Yamuna, a major tributary of the Ganga passing through Delhi, has long suffered from untreated sewage, industrial effluent, and animal waste. Cattle dung discharged from dairy clusters along the river has been a persistent but under-addressed source of organic pollution.

Policy Backdrop

The National Dairy Development Board, established in 1965, has run cattle-dung-based biogas and waste-to-energy programmes across several Indian states, including projects linked to the Swachh Bharat Mission since the mid-2010s. The proposed Delhi pact would extend this model specifically to address river pollution in an urban setting.

The announcement also sits within India's broader river-rejuvenation architecture. The Namami Gange programme, launched in 2014-15, has targeted sewage treatment and pollution abatement across the Ganga basin, of which the Yamuna is a key part. Integrating dairy-sector circular-economy measures with urban green policy has precedent in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, where similar dung-to-energy models have been piloted.

On the mobility front, the Delhi EV Policy — referenced alongside the NDDB agreement — is part of a national wave of state-level electric vehicle frameworks adopted since 2020, aimed at reducing vehicular emissions in dense urban corridors.

Stakeholders and Impact

Delhi residents and Yamuna basin communities stand to benefit most directly from reduced organic pollution loads in the river, which affects drinking water quality and public health across the National Capital Region. Dairy farmers operating near the river could gain an additional revenue stream from selling processed dung as biogas feedstock or organic fertiliser.

CM Gupta presented the three pillars — Yamuna purification, Ridge ecosystem restoration, and the EV Policy — as a combined framework to realise what she called 'ek harit Dilli ki sankalpna' ('the vision of a green Delhi'). The convergence of central government resources through NDDB and state-level policy execution signals a coordinated federal approach to the capital's environmental challenges.

What's Next

The formal signing of the NDDB agreement is expected within the week of 7 July 2026, after which tendering for dung-processing plants along the Yamuna corridor would likely follow. The scale and locations of proposed processing facilities have not yet been disclosed.

Subsequent Yamuna water-quality data from monitoring agencies and EV registration figures from the Delhi transport department will serve as early indicators of whether the integrated green agenda is translating into measurable environmental improvement.