Nagpur: The long-standing issue of mounting garbage heaps in Nagpur may have finally found a solution that could turn the waste into wealth. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has entered into a tie-up with Netherlands-based company, M/s SusBDe, to process solid waste garbage into compressed biogas.
The CEO of M/s SusBDe, Jaap Veenenbos, and Shweta Banerjee, Executive Engineer of Environment Department, NMC, signed a concession agreement, in the presence of Bart De Jong, Consulate General of Netherlands.
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Thursday 13 March 2025
The Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Radhakrishnan B informed on Thursday that the Dutch company will set up a 600 TPD composting plant and 380 MTPD MRF Centre to process 1,200 metric tonne wet and dry waste together. The NMC will provide 29 acres of land at Bhandewadi for the plant. An initial agreement has been made for 15 years, which can later be extended by 15 years. It’s a win-win situation as no financial contribution is required from NMC, Radhakrishnan said.
Since Nagpur is set to have the largest garbage processing facility of the country, the precious land at Bhandewadi Dumping Yard can be used for other fruitful purposes in time to come. The plant is going to be ready within a period of 18 months and with it the requirement of landfill for dumping garbage, nearly 1200 metric tonnes is collected daily in the city, would not be necessary, he said during media interaction at NMC Headquarters in Civil Lines.
Veenebos who also interacted with media persons said the company has proven technology and the plant will have zero waste discharge, barring the small amount of inert material that also is going to be put to some good use. Neither will it take any external water to process the waste nor any effluent is going to be discharged from the plant. The entire project is going to be environment friendly.
A beaming Municipal Commissioner said finally the decade old combination permutation being tried by successive teams of NMC officials have finally reached a definite end and that too on a successful note. Apart from getting Rs. 15 lakh annual rent for land being leased for erection of processing plant, NMC would also get 50 per cent share in carbon credit. It is a path breaking initiative of NMC in dealing with solid waste management under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
When questioned whether NMC’s policy of zero waste would be reconsidered, since more the garbage more the revenue generation from processing, Radhakrishnan quipped, instead citizens should double their focus on segregation. The more segregated garbage is provided, more biogas can be generated which is an environment friendly fuel.
As M/s SusBDe is going to invest its own funds, this is the first Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) project in Second Capital of Maharashtra. Asked about turning the corner given the huge investment required, Japp was of the view that from the very next day of the plant coming on stream they would start generating revenue.
Nearly 27 million cubic meter compressed bio-gas is going to be produced annually at Bhandewadi plant. About the historic garbage lying at Bhandewadi, the Municipal Commissioner said M/s SusBDe is going to provide technology for bio-mining 13 lakh metric tonnes of garbage. In next few years a substantial change would be noticed at Bhandewadi and people in its vicinity would be able to breathe fresh air.
At present about 60 to 70 percent of garbage is segregated and given the need of the company NMC would need to increase the ratio to 90 per cent above. Consulate General of the Netherlands was also present during the media interaction.
