Bottling plant kaput, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation can’t step on biogas

Concerns about an LPG shortage in Ahmedabad have brought the focus back to the AMC's failed experiment to bottle and sell biogas produced from sewage sludge. The biogas bottling plant at Pirana, operated by the AMC, has been non-functional for two years. In 2018, the corporation set up the plant with plans to compress and bottle 8,000 cubic metres of biogas daily for sale. The corporation estimated an annual revenue of about Rs 2.5 crore. However, even when operational, the plant could only deal with 200-300 cubic metres of biogas daily. A tender process will now be initiated to upgrade and restart the plant. An official from the AMC stated, "The plant started in Oct 2018 on the public-private partnership model, with a 15-year agreement in place." The official said that the sale price was set at Rs 9.18 per cubic metre. The official said, "However, due to frequent malfunctions and improper operations, the expected revenue was not realized." The official further said, "The 180MLD capacity STP at Pirana produced 8,000 cubic metres of biogas daily. To utilize this biogas, expressions of interest were invited to compress the gas." The plant faced problems from the start, the official said, including dome leakage within two years of operation, which led to its closure. After repairs, the plant was operational again until lightning struck the dome in 2022, causing another shutdown. Although repairs were made, the plant has remained closed since 2024. "Plans are now in place to upgrade the plant to sell 3,000-3,500 cubic metres of biogas daily," the official said. An AMC source said, "No official statistics on annual biogas generation at the Pirana plant were released. There is no public information on the revenue either." Ahmedabad city generates 1,693MLD of sewage, while the corporation's 16 treatment plants have a capacity of 1,252MLD. However, only 1,080MLD of sewage is treated daily, with 613MLD passing directly into the Sabarmati.