Ministry of Power, Government of India, vide letter No. 11/86/2017-Th11 dated 17th Nov’2017 has issued the "Policy for Biomass Utilization for Power Generation through Co-firing in Pulverized Coal Fired Boilers" wherein it is envisaged that fluidized bed and pulverized coal units shall endeavour to use 5-10% blend of biomass pellets made, primarily of agro residue along with coal. in order to promote co-firing of biomass in thermal power plants, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, vide its notification dated 26.9.2019 has clarified that the power generated from co-firing of biomass in thermal power plants is renewable energy and is eligible for meeting non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) and has requested this Commission to formulate and notify the procedure/methodology for quantifying the energy produced from biomass in biomass co-fired thermal power plants in a reliable and accurate manner.
In 2022 this policy was updated to set a mandatory minimum use of 7% biomass pellets.