India and Japan Expand Dairy Biogas Cooperation
Officials from India’s Ministry of Cooperation and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry met at Atal Akshaya Urja Bhawan in New Delhi. The talks took place under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries on 2 July 2026.
The Indian delegation included Ashish Kumar Bhutani, secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation; Pankaj Kumar Bansal, additional secretary; Raman Kumar, joint secretary; and Meenesh Shah, chairman of the National Dairy Development Board. Representatives of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and the Ministry of External Affairs also attended.
Japan’s delegation was headed by Masayoshi Arai, METI’s vice-minister for international affairs. Participants included Daisuke Asakura, director of the South West Asia Office; Masafumi Senda, chief representative of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization; and Toyokazu Nagamune, METI’s regional representative.
A proposed network of plants
The discussions covered technical and institutional cooperation for dairy operations, organic-waste management and clean-energy production. One proposal involves a phased programme to build 1,000 compressed-biogas facilities across the dairy-cooperative sector.
CBG can be made from biodegradable inputs such as livestock manure and other organic material. The proposed facilities would connect waste collection and processing with energy production, while allowing dairy cooperatives to use organic by-products alongside their existing milk procurement and processing activities.
Possible Japanese support
The framework also refers to cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. That cooperation is intended to assist with project preparation, sustainable financing and broader technical coordination. The source states that large-scale development would require planning, technology, capital and operating arrangements involving Indian institutions, Japanese agencies and dairy cooperatives.
The proposed rollout is to take place in phases. The participating institutions and cooperatives will coordinate the projects as financing arrangements and implementation plans are developed.
