Japan’s Sojitz to enter biomethane production in India

Market: Natural gas
30/04/25

Japanese trader Sojitz has decided to fund Indian biomethane producer IOC GPS Renewables (IGRPL), in efforts to enter biomethane production and sales in India.

IGRPL's biomethane project requires over $400mn, Sojitz announced on 30 April, but Sojitz declined to disclose the funding amount.

IGRPL is a company jointly launched by Indian biomethane plant constructor GPS Renewables and India's state-controlled refiner Indian Oil. Sojitz will conduct the funding in line with these two companies by the end of May, Sojitz told Argus.

IGRPL plans to begin operating 30 biomethane plants in India during the 2026-27 fiscal year to 2027-28, targeting 160,000 t/yr of biomethane production. The company first produces biogas, a mixture of methane and CO2, by processing agricultural wastes using bacteria. It then purifies the biogas to be used as biomethane.

IGRPL's biomethane plants will mainly use paddy straws as feedstock, which are usually burned in the country after harvesting rice. The produced biomethane is expected to be supplied to domestic gas firms, and those companies will use the biomethane for blending with conventional city gas. This will help to cut greenhouse gas emissions compared with using only conventional gas derived from fossil fuels, Sojitz said.

Sojitz does not plan to export this project's biomethane to Japan for now, the company explained to Argus, but will later consider expanding the biomethane business to other regions by utilising GPS Renewables' technologies.

By Kohei Yamamoto

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