India nears 3% compressed biogas blending target as supply rises
India had lifted CBG blending to about 2%, putting the 3% target within reach as new plants and sales volumes climbed.
India on June 17 said it was on track to meet a 3% compressed biogas blending target this financial year as blended CBG reached about 2%. The update signaled that the program is moving from policy design into operating volumes across the city gas distribution system.
The target sits inside a phased mandate approved by the National Biofuels Coordination Committee on November 24, 2023, after a voluntary period through FY 2024-25. The framework sets 1% blending in FY 2025-26, 3% in FY 2026-27, 4% in FY 2027-28 and 5% from FY 2028-29 onward, with a Central Repository Body assigned to monitor and implement the mandate. Because the obligation covers CNG and domestic piped natural gas, the buildout is tied directly to gas system substitution, not just renewable fuel supply.
The supply side has been expanding, but not yet at the scale originally envisioned for the wider biogas push. In December 2024, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said 113 CBG plants were functional, 667 were in various stages of development and 171 were under construction, while the government was fast-tracking 195 plants alongside pricing and financing guidelines. In January 2026, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India had 132 operational CBG plants under SATAT with combined capacity of 920 tonnes per day.
Recent flow data suggest the market is beginning to clear at higher volumes. BioEnergy Times reported CBG sales of about 0.66 MMSCMD in April 2026 and 0.63 MMSCMD in May 2026. It said combined domestic PNG and transport-sector CNG consumption was roughly 34 to 35 MMSCMD, a scale that leaves room for CBG to expand without needing a wholesale reconfiguration of the gas grid.
That is the policy test now facing New Delhi: whether feedstock aggregation, plant commissioning and offtake economics can keep pace with the mandate. The ministry has said its broader biogas push targets 5,000 commercial plants and 15 MMT of CBG production, a scale far above current operating capacity. If the current 3% blend proves durable, it would strengthen the case for the 4% and 5% steps already written into the mandate and give city gas buyers a firmer basis for long-term contracting.
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