If all goes to plan Surat will be the first city in the Indian state of Gujarat to generate electricity from waste, according to a report in The Times of India.
A proposal for a 600 tonne capacity waste to energy facility that is expected to generate 12 MW of power has been made by the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), which has invited tenders from interested companies for the project on build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.
The SMC has offered a piece of land in Khajod to the winning firm to build the plant that will treat municipal solid waste from the area.
According to The Times of India, official sources say that the tender scrutiny committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of municipal commissioner Manoj Das, where Pune-based Rochem Separation`s proposals to purchase solid waste at Rs 60.63 ($1.32) per tonne to generate 12 MW electricity was considered.
The civic body would earn revenue of Rs 13.3 million ($290,000) per annum by selling 600 metric tonne per day waste to the company.
Surat generates roughly 1100 metric tonne of solid waste per day, which is collected from six transfer stations based at Bhatar, Katargam, Varachha, Anjana, Pal and Bhestan and sent to the Khajob disposal site. About 400 metric tonne of organic waste is used for making compost, while the rest is dumped and levelled at the Khajod disposal site.
“As the project is on BOOT basis, the company will operate and generate electricity for 25 years and then project will be transferred to the civic body,” adds El Pathan, head of the Solid Waste Management department.
The project and it will be sent to the standing committee for final approval. Once the project is approved, it will take 18 months to complete.
