Cabinet to take up power, compost generation proposals soon

Venkaiah Naidu said there is a proposal to provide a subsidy of Rs 1,500 per tonne to encourage such activities

Proposals for generating electricity and compost from municipal solid waste would shortly come up before the Cabinet for approval, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said today.

Addressing an international symposium on Municipal Solid Waste Management here, Naidu said he had three rounds of meeting with Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister H N Ananth Kumar on generating compost from solid waste, and Power Minister Piyush Goyal on producing electricity through a similar initiative.

Noting that generating compost is not a profitable proposition, the minister said there is a proposal to provide a subsidy of Rs 1,500 per tonne to encourage such activities.

Naidu also informed that the Power Ministry is in process of amending the Central Electricity Act, 2003 to include provisions on mandatory purchase of all power generated from municipal solid waste by state DISCOMS.

Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined general tariff from waste to energy at Rs 7.90 per unit.

"This rate is not financially viable and so the gap funding will be made from the Swacch Bharat fund," he said.

Both proposals would come up before the Cabinet shortly, Naidu said, adding that waste to compost and waste to energy are the two major initiatives that are being taken up by the Central government.

He also said 16 more waste-to-energy plants are planned and will be commissioned on public-private-partnership mode in the next one year in different parts of the country generating 73.6 MW power.