SATAT initiative will significantly reduce India’s reliance on fossil fuel imports: Mavcomm, SIMC study

Mumbai :Mavcomm Consulting (Mavcomm), the research communications arm of the Mavcomm Group, and one of the leading full-service communications organizations in India, in collaboration with the premier Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC), announced today the findings of their joint study on the Government of India’s Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative.

This study, which seeks to assess the awareness and perceptions about the SATAT initiative among crucial stakeholder audiences, also tries to identify emerging opportunities and challenges for stakeholders in relevant industry ecosystems, especially with regardsto the various technologies currently available in the Indian market for rendering Upgraded and purified biogas suitable for use via cascades, or direct injection into gas grids for consumption in transportation and other allied industries.

Key highlights of the research undertaken as part of the study are summarized below:

• The findings emphasize the important role played by the government and OMCs to create awareness and interest, especially from entrepreneurs and investors for opportunities emerging from the SATAT initiative.
• There was broad consensus among all stakeholders participating in the research that SATAT holds the key to not only Energy Aatmanirbharta, but also plays a crucial role in Clean India or Swaccha Bharat, thereby contributing to the circular economy.
• Entrepreneurs and investors also highlighted challenges on ground, not justduring the plant set up stage, but equallyaround project viability and profitability, wherethe continuous supply of plant feed, guaranteed offload of produced CBG were some of the key concerns.
• The pros and cons of various biogas purification technologies (that renders biogas suitable for use via cascades, or direct injection into gas grid, for consumption in transportation and other allied industries) were also explored.
• Membrane technologies emerged as top choice on environmental sustainability and total cost of ownership aspects, amongst the new and progressive technologies for Biogas purification.

Adopting a very holistic approach, Mavcomm and SIMC reached out to representatives of all the four primary SATAT stakeholder categories, comprising OMCs, OEMs, Consultants, and Investors/Entrepreneurs. Theextensive research exercise offers a bird’s eye view on the provisions of the SATAT initiative, and its significance, opportunities and challenges as perceived by various stakeholder groups. It alsodoesa deep dive analysis on the perceptions about various methane extraction systems,as well as the influenceof profitability and sustainability on how investors and entrepreneurs adopted technology.

The research concludes that the SATAT initiative introduced by the Government of India is likely to have a long-term positive effect on reducing India’s reliance on the import of fossil fuels. The stakeholders across categories

emphasized that the strong impetus given to Compressed Biogas (CBG) is justified as it allows for the creation of a circular economy, effectively monetizing biowaste, which would otherwise be destined for the landfill, along with the added benefit of being eco-friendly.