Government Sanctions INR 140 Cr Supplementary Budget for National Bioenergy Programme Phase-I
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has sanctioned an INR 140 crore supplementary budget under Phase-I of the National Bioenergy Programme, raising the total outlay to INR 998 crore and strengthening India’s push for waste-to-energy, biomass, and biogas solutions.
September 18, 2025. By Mrinmoy Dey
With this allocation, the total outlay under Phase-I rises to INR 998 crore, reinforcing the government’s push towards clean and sustainable energy solutions, noted MNRE in a notification.
The National Bioenergy Programme, administered by MNRE’s Bio-Energy Division, is structured around three key sub-schemes.
The Waste to Energy Programme focuses on generating energy from urban, industrial, and agricultural waste and residues. The Biomass Programme is designed to support the manufacturing of briquettes and pellets, and to promote non-bagasse biomass-based cogeneration in industries. And, the Biogas Programme is aimed at scaling up small and medium-sized biogas projects across the country.
As per the MNRE notification, the supplementary budget will be distributed across these three schemes. While INR 37.5 crore will be allocated for the Waste to Energy Programme, INR 52.5 crore will be given for the Biomass Programme. The Biogas Programme will receive INR 50 crore.
The ministry clarified that the budget is fungible across components, allowing for flexibility in fund allocation based on project requirements. The existing guidelines, implementation frameworks, and terms and conditions of Phase-I will continue to apply, along with any amendments issued subsequently.
In June 2025, MNRE revised guidelines for the Biomass Programme, simplifying processes, easing documentation, updating performance criteria, and clarifying subsidy norms to accelerate biomass energy projects under the National Bioenergy Programme.
The ministry also introduced major changes to the performance inspection criteria for briquette and pellet manufacturing units. Earlier, plants were required to demonstrate operational capacity over extended periods viz. three consecutive days at 80 percent of rated capacity and three consecutive months at 70 percent of rated capacity. This has now been simplified. Under the revised rule, plants must operate at an average of 80 percent rated capacity for a continuous period of 10 hours to be eligible for 100 percent Central Financial Assistance (CFA).
If a plant is unable to meet the 80 percent threshold, the CFA will be disbursed on a pro-rata basis depending on the achieved Capacity Utilization Factor (CUF) during the 10-hour performance window. For instance, if a plant achieves 73 percent CUF, it will receive 91.25 percent of the eligible CFA. However, if the CUF falls below 50 percent, no CFA will be granted.
MNRE also issued revised guidelines for the Waste-to-Energy Programme to streamline processes, link financial support to plant performance, and accelerate India's bioenergy transition. As per the revised guidelines, there is a provision to release the CFA in two stages. Based on performance of the projects, 50 percent of total CFA will be released after obtaining the Consent to Operate certificate from State Pollution Control Board, against the bank guarantee, while the balance CFA would be released after achieving the 80 percent of the rated capacity or the maximum CFA eligible capacity, whichever is lesser.
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