HPCL's compressed biogas dream drives India's green energy push

Amidst a silent corner of Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, where farm residues used to heap up in fields, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is writing India's energy self-reliance narrative.

- SIMONTINI BHATTACHARJEE

MEERUT (UP): Amidst a silent corner of Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, where farm residues used to heap up in fields, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is writing India's energy self-reliance narrative.

The government-owned energy behemoth, under its bio-energy arm covering over 19 acres of land in Mawana village, has converted this agro-industrial cluster into the hub of the country's Compressed Biogas (CBG) revolution, converting crop residues, press mud, and distillery effluents into a high-purity fuel.

The Circuit Plant: HPCL's Flagship Project The pivot of this change is the Circuit CBG Plant, a Rs 50-crore facility which Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation in October 2023. Jointly developed with indigenous entrepreneurs, the plant converts 150 tonnes of organic waste per day into 12 tonnes of CBG—proudly containing 99.1 per cent methane content—and 50 tonnes of Liquid Fermented Organic Manure (LFOM).