Gujarat eyes wider CBG network with Japanese financial, technical support
Gandhinagar, Sep 23 (IANS) The Gujarat government, Suzuki Motor Corporation and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are set to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand compressed biogas (CBG) plants in the state, with Japanese financial and technical assistance proposed for the initiative.
The proposal was discussed at a meeting in Gandhinagar on Wednesday attended by Finance Minister Kanu Desai, Cooperation Minister Jitu Vaghani, Minister of State for Revenue Sanjaysinh Mahida, and a Japanese delegation.
The Japanese delegation included Toyokazu Nagamune, regional representative of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Kenichiro Toyofuku, Managing Officer of Suzuki Motor Corporation; Takuro Takeuchi, chief representative of JICA India; and senior representative Sota Koide.
The initiative seeks to establish CBG plants through cooperative dairies with government support, with the broader objective of strengthening the cooperative sector and promoting environment-friendly energy production.
During the meeting, representatives of Suzuki and JICA presented a detailed proposal for providing financial and technical assistance to expand biogas plants in Gujarat.
The proposal also envisages increasing the production of quality organic fertilisers alongside biogas.
The discussions on the proposal were described as “preliminary and positive”.
Based on the deliberations, the Gujarat government, Suzuki and JICA are expected to formally sign an MoU in the coming period.
The proposed expansion comes as Gujarat already has a dairy-linked CBG project involving Suzuki, Banas Dairy and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary of the Cooperation Department Arun Kumar Solanki; Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department Jayanti Ravi; Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department T. Natarajan; and Registrar of Cooperative Societies Bharat Joshi, besides senior officials from various state government departments.
Senior officials from Banas Dairy and NDDB also attended the meeting and participated in the discussions.
The development also comes shortly after the Centre operationalised its Rs 23,731-crore ‘GOBARdhan’ scheme for compressed biogas, which aims to support CBG production through measures including assured offtake, capital assistance and financing support.
–IANS
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