Bhopal, Oct 2 (IANS): On the occasion of Swachhta Diwas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated a gaushala with a Bio-CNG plant in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior on Wednesday and also launched various development projects worth Rs 685 crore for the state.

This is India’s first modern and self-reliant gaushala with a Bio-CNG plant, according to an official statement.

The gaushala (cow shelter) at Lal Tipara has 10,000 cows being cared for with the support of the Gwalior Municipal Corporation and the saint community. The shelter can produce three tonnes of natural gas per day by using 100 tonnes of cow dung.

The plant has been set up in collaboration with the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), and will also produce 20 tonnes of high-quality organic manure, the MP government said in a statement. The IOC will assist in the operation and maintenance of the plant.

The gaushala was developed for Rs 32 crore from the corporate social responsibility fund of the IOC.

Considering its future expansion, additional one-hectare land has been reserved. In order to construct a modern cow shed for 2,000 cows, at the gaushala, Rs 2 crore have been provided from the local area development fund of Member of Parliament.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed gratitude to PM Modi for realising his vision of “waste to wealth” for the nation. He also thanked the community of seers and devotees for taking care of mother cows.

CM Yadav said his government will support the expansion of this initiative in other parts of the state. It is worth recalling here that the largest Bio CNG plant in Asia is operational at Indore, and that was also inaugurated by PM Modi.

Gwalior's bio-gas plant will produce approximately 2 to 3 tons of bio CNG and about 20 tons of high-quality organic manure every day. This will generate an income of around Rs 7 crore for the Gwalior Municipal Corporation.

This project will help people in the Gwalior region in many ways, especially farmers living in surrounding districts will be encouraged to practice organic farming as they will be easily getting bio-manure at very reasonable prices.