Waste-to-Energy: Railways to set up plants in Delhi, Jaipur

Railways will be setting up first-of-its-kind plants at New Delhi and Jaipur stations for disposal of solid waste in environmental-friendly manner and generation of energy from the garbage.
The plants are proposed to be set up under the Waste-to-Energy project of the Railways, a ministry official said.
"There will be two plants, first-of-its-kind in railways, for disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated at stations as well as conversion of MSW into electricity and synthetic gas," the official said.
The proposed capacity for handling waste is 20 tons per day at New Delhi station and 5 tons per day at Jaipur station area. Railways will provide 1000 sq metre land on licence fee basis in the vicinity for setting up the plant.

RITES, a railways subsidiary, has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for the project.
"Organisations having the expertise and experience in the field are invited to express their interest in the project. Plants would be run on build, operate and maintain basis for a period of at least 10 years," the official said.
Railways generate a substantial amount of solid waste by passengers, visitors, vendors and staff. The solid waste consists of biodegradable as well as non-biodegradable materials.
At pressent solid waste generated at stations are transferred to nearest designated location of municipality and in this process a considerable efforts and physical transportation are required. However, the dealy in transfer also causes early degradation leading to unhygienic circumstances within the railway premises.