₹54/kg (₹54 per kg)

₹54/kg was the original benchmark ex-plant purchase price for compressed biogas set by India's SATAT scheme when it launched in October 2018, designed as an assured offtake by Oil Marketing Companies (IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, GAIL) to give CBG project developers bankable revenue visibility. The figure was framed as a floor price — equivalent to roughly 75–80% of the prevailing retail CNG rate at the time — and was intended to make a 10 TPD CBG plant viable at a typical Indian feedstock cost of ₹400–600 per tonne of organic waste.

The economics underlying ₹54 work as follows. A 10 TPD plant processing cattle dung or press mud generates roughly 1,200 kg of CBG per day, or ₹64,800 of gross daily revenue at this rate. Stripping out 30% feedstock cost, 15% O&M, 10% power, and 8% finance cost leaves roughly 25–30% EBITDA — enough to service a 70:30 debt-equity structure with a 7-year tenor at 9–10% interest. The price was deliberately calibrated to deliver a 15–18% project IRR, in line with what NABARD and SBI used as their bankability threshold for renewable energy lending.

The rate has been revised upward several times to ₹46–₹76 per kg depending on the calculation method, regional gas-grid linkages, and feedstock subsidy treatment. State-level top-ups in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Gujarat lift the realised price further. Crucially, the ₹54 figure excludes GST (5% on CBG), transport allowance, and the value of digestate sold as Fermented Organic Manure under FCO 1985 — which can add another ₹8–12 per kg of CBG-equivalent revenue.

• Original SATAT rate of ₹54/kg launched October 2018, ex-plant, excluding GST.
• Calibrated for a 15–18% IRR on a 10 TPD plant at typical Indian feedstock costs.
• Revised upward in 2022 and 2023; current SATAT benchmark sits at ₹54–₹76/kg.
• Digestate revenue under FCO 1985 typically adds 15–20% to gross plant revenue.