It is a pity that instead of Indian researchers, it was a Dutch scientist who developed such a simple technology. India prides itself over its gobar gas plant legacy. When questioned as to why gobar gas technology was not extended to treat domestic sewage, officials from the ministry of non-conventional energy sources have a typically evasive answer: reactor design and other parameters for gobar gas and municipal sewage were different. Gobar gas technology, based on anaerobic system for treatment of concentrated organic loads had been adopted and promoted by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission way back in 1964; currently, India boasts of 2.5 million gobar gas units. R H Siddiqui, retired professor of environmental engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, opines that researchers in India tend to have a blinkered approach to research. Consequently, they did not think of extending the technology applicable for treating concentrated organic waste to dilute municipal domestic organic waste. Siddiqui feels that contribution by Indian scientists has not extended beyond minor changes in reactor design or in the material used for construction. He opines that in some places, other treatment options like a mixture of well-designed ponds as is currently in practice in West Bengal can be tried out. Siddiqui also feels that before going for electricity generation from the methane obtained through uasb, it was necessary to carefully work out the economic viability of the process.

Abdullah Khan of Iramconsult, one of the Indian consultants to gap, is more honest: "But don't you know that we are a land of mediocre scientists? Which process has India come out with? Scientists and government officials lack that frame of mind!' Realising that the government was his major client and offending them could mean losing business, he quickly adds, "However, now that this technology is available in India and has been demonstrated at Kanpur, we are taking it up. A lot of research, development and modifications are currently being made by government institutions, universities and by us.'