Software major Infosys today announced the launch of a Rs 22 crore household biogas project in Ramanagara district in Karnataka.

Under the project, Infosys will build 7,620 household biogas units and provide an equal number of biogas stoves to as many families in the district.

Over a 10-year period, the project is expected to generate biogas equivalent to about 1 million cylinders of domestic LPG, the company said in a release here.

SKG Sangha, a Karnataka-based NGO with experience in implementing biogas projects, will be the implementation partner for the project, it said.

Infosys will train the beneficiaries, maintain the biogas digesters and monitor their performance, the release added.

The project was inaugurated by Sudha Murty, Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, India, in Channapatna.

According to the Ministry of Statistics, close to a million deaths a year in the country were attributable to household air pollution from traditional modes of cooking.

The biogas project will give the beneficiary families a better and healthier lifestyle through clean and fast cooking for many years, the release said.

Aiming to become carbon neutral by 2018, the company is also working towards reducing its per capita electricity consumption by 50 per cent from its 2007-2008 levels and source all its electricity from renewable resources by 2018, the release said.