The Housing and Urban Development department of the Odisha government has signed the waste PPP project for the treatment and disposal of municipal solid waste generated from the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack in India.

The project will be developed on a design, build, finance, operation and transfer basis for a period of 20 years. The contract was awarded to the consortium Essel Bhubaneswar MSW which is formed by Essel Infraprojects Limited and Rochem Separation Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Essel Bhubaneswar MSW Ltd shall within 6 months prepare the detailed project report, obtain approval from all statutory authorities and achieve the financial close. The project cost is estimated at Rs2000 million (US$24 million).

The project will be implemented on an area covering about 62.5 acres. Within two years, the company will develop the MSW processing facility of 600 tons per day (TPD) capacity at Bhuasuni and transfer stations at Gadakana and Ghatikia in Bhubaneswar and Satichaura at Cuttack, procure all equipment and vehicles for transfer of waste from transfer stations to Bhuasuni. The capacity can be increased depending on the solid waste generated by the two cities.

After separating non-biodegradable and bio-degradable waste, it would turn it into compost from which 11.5MW of electricity would be generated as a by-product.

A N Jena, Bhubaneswar municipal corporation mayor, stated:

After collecting garbage from the transfer stations, the company will dump the waste at the plant. The company will adopt innovative waste processing technologies that are environment friendly.