The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has announced that it has invited bids for its "waste to energy" plant project at Vilholi. Nashik is a city in western India in the state of Maharashtra.

The compost plant was set up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and treats 300-350 metric tones of urban waste. The plant will now convert waste into energy and be managed the plant through a PPP model.

The project will be developed under a design, finance, build, operate and transfer (DFBOT) model for a period of 10 years.

The project will be funded by the Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a Germany-based government agency, for international cooperation.

R K Pawar, superintending engineer of the solid waste department of the NMC, stated:

Around two months ago when we had invited the bids, only one firm responded. We want more companies to choose from and that is why we invited the tenders again.

The NMC's compost plant at Vilholi has been under the scanner for some years now because the NMC incurred losses from the plant. In 2011, GIZ had proposed converting waste into energy, but the agency was unsure of the proposal.