Pune plans 300 MT bio-CNG waste plant on 12 acres at Uruli Devachi

The Pune Municipal Corporation’s standing committee has approved a proposal to establish a 300-metric-tonne-per-day waste-processing unit in the Phursungi-Uruli Devachi area to increase the city’s wet-waste processing capacity.

Around 12 acres of land will be allotted to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) to establish and operate a bio-CNG project for processing wet waste.

The entire cost of setting up and maintaining the project, including repairs, will be borne by BPCL.

“The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will only have to provide the land, transport waste to the processing plant and provide the necessary basic infrastructure,” standing committee chairman Shrinath Bhimale said.

Bhimale said the proposal was being taken forward as the city’s daily waste generation had increased following the merger of 23 villages into PMC limits.

Pune currently generates around 2,700 to 2,800 metric tonnes of solid waste every day. Of this, around 1,000 to 1,100 MT is wet waste.

“The installed capacity for processing wet waste is currently only 595 MT per day, prompting the civic body to push the proposal to augment processing capacity,” Bhimale said.

Under the proposal, BPCL will also pay the monthly electricity and water bills for the project.

The company will own the products generated from the project and will have the rights to sell or scientifically dispose of them.

The 12-acre land parcel will be handed over to BPCL for 27 years. This period will include two years for setting up and operationalising the unit and 25 years of operation.

The land will be leased at a nominal rate of Rs 1 per acre per annum.

The proposal will now be placed before the PMC general body for final approval.

Residents from Phursungi and Uruli Devachi have opposed waste-processing plants in the area. PMC officials said they were in communication with residents and that the issues raised by them were being addressed.

The proposed plant is intended to increase Pune’s wet-waste processing capacity through a bio-CNG project in the Phursungi-Uruli Devachi area.

The project is currently a proposal approved by the PMC standing committee and still requires final approval from the civic body’s general body.