India revamps green energy sector: what lies for domestic biogas technology?

Present study, in the wake of India revamping its green energy sector, revisits long established rural-based energy technology domestic biogas plants (DBPs). To this end, we present its status-policy design, nature of diffusion and factors that determine their adoption. While more than 60% of the biogas plant potential are still left untapped, their installation declined steadily across all the states in the last decade. While only three of 1000 rural households use DBPs, half of them find it inadequate. Increment in the financial assistance to the state, presence of educated woman in the household, and ideal physical conditions enhance the households' chances to adopt DBP. On the contrary, improvement in the status of alternative energy sources (firewood), belonging to backward social community and being a poor household reduces the odds to adopt biogas plants. Characterised by fractured support system, biogas plants still has long way to go before emerging as reliable and sustainable source of energy in rural India.