Reliance Industries has begun work on its Rs 65,000 crore investment in compressed bio-gas (CBG) hub in Andhra Pradesh, with an integrated CBG plant near Divakarapalli village in Kanigiri. Minister for Education and IT, Nara Lokesh laid the foundation stone for the project.  

Developed by Reliance New Energy, this Rs 139-crore facility spans 475 acres and has a production capacity of 100 tonne. Reliance plans to establish 500 CBG plants across the state, utilising 5,00,000 acres of barren and waste lands in Prakasam, Anantapur, Chittoor, and Kadapa.

The plants will use Napier grass to produce four million tonne of green CBG and 1.1 million tonne of organic fertiliser annually. The initiative aims to provide livelihood support to rural farmers through lease payments and fixed-price contracts for Napier grass while generating employment to the tune of 2,50,000.