Union Budget 2023: GOBARdhan scheme, Explained!

Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources (GOBAR) Dhan was launched in April 2018 by the Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation. The scheme aims to positively impact village cleanliness. In addition, generate wealth and energy from cattle and organic waste. It also aims at creating new rural livelihood opportunities and enhancing income for farmers and other rural people.

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The GOBARdhan scheme is being pursued as a national program priority under Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin-Phase II. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation is working with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, the Department of Rural Development, state governments, public and private sector institutions, and village communities to give this a shape of ‘Jan Andolan’ so that community collective action on GOBARdhan is achieved.

Union Budget 2023

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs presented the Budget 2023-2024 listing the seven priorities or the ‘Saptarishi’ guiding us through the Amrit Kaal.

In the ‘Green Growth’ segment, 500 new Waste to Wealth plants will be established under the GOBARdhan scheme for promoting the circular economy. These will include 200 compressed biogas (CBG) plants, including 75 plants in urban and 300 community or cluster-based plants at a total investment of Rs. 10,000 crores. While presenting the Union Budget for 2023, the finance minister also said that the government will facilitate 1 crore farmers to adopt natural farming.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs signed an MoU with Engineers India Limited to develop ‘Waste to Energy and Bio-Methanation projects in cities with more than a million population as part of furthering the ‘Green Growth agenda.

The Prime Minister in February 2022, inaugurated Asia’s biggest municipal solid waste-based GOBARdhan plant in Indore which aims to generate 19,000 kg of bio-CNG gas. Under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, the bio methanation plants linked to the GOBARdhan and SATAT schemes will produce Bio-CNG as renewable energy.

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