The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has confirmed that 71 thermal power plants across India have adopted the practice of co-firing biomass alongside coal.
Biomass co-firing blends agricultural residues such as paddy straw and crop by-products with coal in conventional power stations, reducing carbon emissions and helping to tackle stubble burning, a major contributor to air pollution.
The Ministry of Power made it mandatory from October 2021 for all coal-based plants to co-fire at least five per cent unmixed biomass, with plans to raise the requirement to seven per cent by 2025–26.
While adoption has gathered pace, implementation has been uneven, with earlier figures showing just 47 plants engaged in co-firing by mid-2023, using about 165,000 tonnes of agro-residue-based biomass.
A later report estimated that co-firing had prevented close to 0.97 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions following the use of 814,000 tonnes of biomass.
The programme still faces challenges, including limited biomass pellet production capacity, supply chain constraints and technical barriers at some facilities, which can make it difficult to maintain the mandated fuel mix.
In certain regions, such as Delhi-NCR, the biomass share in co-firing has often remained below one per cent, with operations carried out only intermittently.
Government measures to address these issues include the SAMARTH scheme, which supports the use of agro-residue in thermal plants, funding for pellet manufacturing and the creation of vendor listings and long-term supply agreements.
Pilot projects by major producers such as NTPC have demonstrated co-firing rates of up to 20 per cent using torrefied biomass, indicating the potential for broader adoption across the sector.
71 thermal power plants across India now co-fire biomass, says CAQM
