Since the fuel prices are on a hike, Mexico based social enterprise Sistema.bio finds a sustainable and cost-effective way for farmers in India. The company has invested INR 20 crore in its first biogas plant manufacturing unit in Pune, India. Sistema.bio which provides smallholder farmers with high-quality anaerobic digestion technology, aims to produce the company’s patented biogas reactors in India and provide them to farmers at an affordable cost.
Highlighting their plans, Camilo Pages, Co-founder and Chief Production Officer of Sistema.bio said, “We incorporated Sistema.bio India as an Indian entity in 2018 because we understood the country’s huge potential for biogas plants. In the past three years, we received great acceptance from dairy farmers all across the country. This motivated us to set up a manufacturing facility near our head office in Pune. This factory will have the capacity to manufacture 30,000 biodigesters in a year and will help us cater to farmers across Asia and, in the near future, Africa.”
The production facility is spread across 20,000 sq. ft. in a 250-acre industrial corridor. By December 2021, Sistema.bio India aims to achieve a capacity of manufacturing 2,000 biodigesters per month, and achieve full capacity of the unit by March 2022. Through the factory, the company is planning to create employment for over 250 people. The social enterprise also plans to build a robust supply chain in India. By producing biodigesters in India, Sistema.bio plans to reduce the cost of their biodigesters by 20 per cent, benefiting the economies of farming families. Earlier, the organisation imported biodigesters from their parent company in Mexico.
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Piyush Sohani, Managing Director, Sistema.bio India said, “We started our journey in India in 2018 by installing 25 biodigesters in a small village in Gujarat and within two years, we have expanded to 14 states. With the vision to serve smallholder dairy farmers in the farthest corners of the country, we are now moving towards manufacturing our biodigesters in India to ensure that our products are even more affordable for the farmers and are available throughout the year. We will also export biodigesters made in India to African and South-Asian countries.”
Sistema.bio’s biodigesters allow smallholder farmers to increase their agricultural productivity and net income, along with enhancing the sustainability of their farms. Currently, there are over 85,872 people in India, spread across 14 states, who are producing clean and renewable energy with Sistema.bio’s digesters.
In 2020, Sistema.bio India also partnered with organisations in Cambodia, Nepal and the Philippines to deliver biodigesters and raise awareness about biogas. Globally, the social enterprise has regional hubs in Mexico, Kenya, and Colombia, and has impacted over 148,722 people in other 30+ countries with clean energy and fertiliser.
