In a significant push under the Government of India’s SATAT Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) initiative, Infra.Market and CEF Group have accelerated progress on a joint effort to set up 22 compressed biogas (CBG) and organic manure plants across the country. Infra.Market and CEF Group form JV and plan to invest 2300 crore.
Launched in 2018, the SATAT scheme aims to promote CBG as a clean, affordable alternative to fossil fuels by enabling private-sector participation in converting agricultural and municipal waste into energy. The Infra.Market–CEF Group partnership stands out as one of the most prominent ventures aligned with this mission, aiming to process thousands of tonnes of organic waste and MSW annually while creating new revenue streams for rural economies.
The two companies signed a term sheet in 2022 to establish the 22 plants. Currently, three projects are in advanced stages of execution—two based on municipal solid waste (MSW) in Jammu and Ahmedabad, and one using press mud, a sugar industry byproduct, in Western Uttar Pradesh.
According to industry sources, a loan agreement was recently signed with a German Export Finance bank, marking a significant milestone in the funding structure of the initiative. This investment is being seen as a strong vote of confidence in India’s bioenergy potential and in the role SATAT-compliant projects can play in addressing the country’s growing waste management challenge. The initial investment agreement was signed in 2024 for the first two projects.
Rieckermann facilitated CEF Group India’s investment in two state-of-the-art compressed biogas (CBG) plants with their ECA-covered financing service. Contracting and first implementation steps for CEF Jammu Energy Private Limited and CEF Ahmedabad Cleaneffentech Private Limited have been completed in close partnership with AKA Ausfuhrkreditgesellschaft mbH, Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV), and Blend Financial Services as a financial advisor to the customer.
The total project value of the two projects is 38 million euros, and the financing volume is 85% of international and 100% of local project costs.
The Rieckermann Group’s Trade Finance Swiss GmbH has been commissioned to act as project manager and general supplier of engineering, equipment, and project-related services alongside the structuring and arrangement of long-term financing with export credit agency ECA) support.
The new facilities will be processing up to 850 metric tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) into compressed biogas (CBG) per day, which is a renewable, high-energy fuel that can be used to substitute diesel, petrol, and natural gas. The process will also generate valuable by-products such as organic manure, refuse-derived fuel (RDF), and city compost, contributing to a circular and sustainable urban waste economy.
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