Mumbai: In a major push to curb plastic pollution and establish Maharashtra as a green manufacturing hub, the state government has approved the Maharashtra Bioplastics Policy 2026, the state’s first dedicated policy to promote the bioplastics sector.
Event Context
Maharashtra has several advantages that can help it become a leading bioplastics manufacturing centre. It is the country’s largest producer of sugarcane and a major ethanol producer, providing abundant feedstock such as sugarcane derivatives, molasses, bagasse, corn, and starch. During the 2025-26 sugar season, around 200 operational sugar mills in Maharashtra crushed approximately 104.56 million metric tonnes of sugarcane and produced nearly 9.92 million metric tonnes of sugar.
The state’s strong chemical manufacturing base, leading research institutions, and logistics infrastructure, including the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), further strengthen its potential to develop an integrated bioplastics ecosystem.
Player Focus
The development comes amid growing concerns over conventional plastic waste, microplastic pollution, marine contamination, and greenhouse gas emissions. While the global bioplastics market is witnessing rapid growth, India currently contributes only around 0.46% of global production and remains dependent on imports of key biopolymers, particularly PLA.
Under the policy, eligible fixed capital investment (EFCI) will include new capital expenditure directly linked to establishing or expanding bioplastics manufacturing facilities. It will cover new plant and machinery such as bioreactors, polymerisation equipment, extrusion lines, moulding systems, and allied processing equipment; manufacturing infrastructure including utility facilities, effluent treatment plants, and composting facilities; dedicated utilities such as captive power, water treatment, steam generation, and material handling systems; quality control and compostability testing infrastructure; pollution control and Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems; research and development equipment for bioplastics innovation; and pre-operative expenses directly linked to the project, subject to a cap of 2% of the total project cost.
However, expenses such as land and land development costs, working capital, raw material inventory, goodwill and intangible assets, non-production infrastructure, unrelated vehicles and transport equipment, investments made before policy notification, and expenditure already claimed under other state or central incentive schemes will not be considered under EFCI, the 18-page policy document said.
Team Analysis
The policy aims to attract ₹25,000 crore in greenfield investments over the next five years, including at least ₹10,000 crore in Polylactic Acid (PLA) manufacturing facilities, alongside generating 100,000 jobs across the value chain. It sets ambitious sustainability targets, including reducing Maharashtra’s dependence on imported PLA by 50% by 2030, replacing at least 30% single-use plastic (SUP) packaging with bioplastics in identified sectors, and ramping up bioplastics exports from the state to $1billion.
The policy also seeks to expand domestic production of PLA and other biopolymers, strengthen the bioplastics value chain through greater use of agricultural feedstock, and promote a circular and sustainable manufacturing ecosystem. It aims to integrate 100,000 farmers into the bioplastics feedstock supply chain through sugarcane, corn, and starch-based procurement arrangements, creating new and sustainable income opportunities.
“Evidence from city-level enforcement and independent studies shows that while the 2018 plastic ban has reduced certain waste streams, enforcement remains uneven, particularly during festivals and in the informal retail sector. This highlights the need to build supply-side capacity for certified compostable alternatives and scale up compliant end-of-life processing infrastructure,” a senior official from the state industries department said.
Match Outlook
“The new policy will cover the entire bioplastics value chain, from feedstock processing to certified finished product manufacturing. Units engaged in bioplastics manufacturing, processing, and conversion will be eligible for incentives under the policy,” the official added
The incentive framework will cover anchor investors as well as small, medium, large, and mega units involved in feedstock processing, biopolymer manufacturing, compounding and conversion, and finished product manufacturing.
A second official said the incentives would be applicable only to new greenfield projects and fresh capacity additions.
“Existing conventional plastics units undertaking brownfield expansion will not qualify unless the entire incremental investment is dedicated exclusively to bioplastics manufacturing,” the official said.
source
According to Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) data, the state generated 396,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of plastic waste in the financial year 2022–23. Of this, 288,000 TPA was collected and around 225,000 TPA was processed, leaving a significant gap that the government aims to address through waste reduction, substitution with bioplastics, and expansion of higher-value recycling and processing systems.
