RIL to invest Rs65,000 cr in 500 biogas plants in Andhra Pradesh

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will be setting up 500 plants to produce compressed biogas across Andhra Pradesh, at an estimated cost of Rs65,000 crore, over the next five years.

These compressed biogas plants, to be developed on wastelands across the state, will involve investment of Rs130 crore each.

RIL will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) towards at Vijayawada in the presence of state chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday. 

This is Reliance Industries’ largest investment in India outside Gujarat and the project has been made possible by the untiring efforts of Andhra Pradesh minister for information technology, electronics and communications, Nara Lokesh. 

Part of the company’s transitional investment in clean energy projects, these plants are expected to create 250,000 jobs – both direct and indirect – in the state, according to Nara Lokesh, who is also chairman of the Jobs Creation Sub-Committee.

Besides the employment potential, RIL’s project will help expand cultivation of energy crops in wastelands across the state.

The state government under chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has set a goal of creating 2 million jobs in the state over the next five years.

The Andhra Pradesh government is offering a number of incentives, including a 20 per cent capital subsidy for compressed biogas plants, besides full reimbursement of state goods and services tax (SGST) and electricity duty for 5 years, under its integrated clean energy policy. 

It is pertinent to note that Lokesh managed to secure the deal in just 30 days.

The young minister has also secured a Rs1.4 lakh crore investment from steel giant Arcelor Mittal in his push for making Andhra Pradesh an investment-friendly state.