The government of India started its biogas development project in 1981 as one of its programs designed to meet rural energy needs, especially for cooking. One of the solutions to the problem was the introduction of the concept of pay-and-use toilets championed by the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, a non-profit voluntary organisation pioneering in the field of sanitation in India. The biogas generated is used largely for public lighting. Sulabh community toilets linked to biogas plants are generating energy and fertilizer, and some of them have attached health care facilities as well.
APEIS (2003): Biogas Plants Based on Night Soil. Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategies (APEIS), Research on Innovative and Strategic Policy Options (RISPO). (=Good Practices Inventory). Sulabh International and Agency for Non Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT)