Palanpur: The Banas Bio CNG Model Plant, jointly developed by Banas Dairy, Suzuki Motor Corporation and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), was inaugurated at Vinchhiwadi in Dhanera taluka on Wednesday, strengthening efforts to produce clean energy from biogas and provide additional income opportunities for livestock rearers, The Times of India reported.
Suzuki Motor Corporation chairman Toshihiro Suzuki, Banas Dairy chairman Shankar Chaudhary and NDDB chairman Minesh Patel were present at the event. A Bio CNG filling station was also inaugurated, while nine taxis were launched under the country’s first rural cooperative model ‘Gramin Bharat Taxi’ service.
Suzuki described the biogas plant as an important milestone in the development of green energy. He said Japan and India had jointly decided to work towards setting up 1,000 biogas plants across the country and the initiative was progressing rapidly towards that target.
Chaudhary said the Bio CNG programme, supported by Suzuki and involving an investment of Rs 250 crore, had grown from the first plant at Dama, which had a capacity of 45 MT, to four operational plants with a combined daily capacity of 340 MT.
He said new plants were planned at Tharad and Radhanpur. Banaskantha has around three million livestock and could support about 100 such plants, he added.
The initiative will generate clean fuel while giving cattle dung greater value through scientific processing, Chaudhary said. It will also help improve organic carbon in soil and support natural farming without chemical inputs, he added.
He said the nine vehicles launched under the ‘Gramin Bharat Taxi’ initiative represented the country’s first rural level cooperative taxi model. Under the model, drivers will own their vehicles, similar to the cooperative ownership system followed by dairy farmers.
The initiative is expected to generate employment opportunities for young people in rural areas, Chaudhary said.
