NEW DELHI, 30 May 2019: Mr A K Jain, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India today called upon the industry to set up biogas plants and biomethanation plants in the country to substitute LPG, especially in the cities. 

Speaking at Technical Conference on Waste to Energy and Resource Conservation (WERC) 2019 organized by FICCI, jointly with PCRA, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Mr Jain said, "The ground has been set and it is now for the industry and entrepreneurs to take this up in a big way." He also urged the industry to explore the possibility of shifting from coal-based electricity to waste-to-energy technologies. 

He further added that in the last decade, the demand for energy has increased drastically and it is imperative that new and alternate mode of energy should be used. "Almost 25 percent of total energy consumed in the country comes from bio-mass," he said. 

Mr Vinod Kumar Jindal, Joint Secretary (SBM), Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Govt. of India stressed upon the importance of public partnerships with regard to waste management process. "We have to achieve 100% ODF (Open Defecation Free), public participation and create waste to wealth," he said.

Mr Jindal also highlighted the need for clarity on the waste segregation policy."The need of the hour is to make waste segregation compulsory," he said.

Mr Rene Van Berkel, UNIDO Representative to India, New Delhi said, "Waste is best defined as a resource at the wrong time, location or form, waiting to be utilized." He further added that energy and materials recovery has an important role to play in circular economy.