WTE plant project at Bandhwari to be delayed, to be ready by Dec 2024

Gurugram: The construction work of the waste-to-energy (WTE) plant at the Bandhwari landfill site has hit a roadblock due to the ongoing blame game between Ecogreen Energy, the concessionaire that handles solid waste in Gurugram, and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) over a 10-acre land earmarked for the project. The plant was likely to be operational by February 2024, but sources say now it will be ready only by December next year.

While Ecogreen has claimed that the MCG has not cleared the land after releasing it in 2021, the civic body has maintained that the concessionaire is yet to begin the project and are levelling false allegations.

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had laid the foundation stone for the WTE plant at Bandhwari on December 10, 2021, and had announced that it would be completed within two years and become fully operational in 2024.

But the situation on the ground seems different and the construction work for the WTE plant that had begun in December last year has not moved forward, said officials.

MCG joint commissioner Pardeep Kumar said, “We have written to Ecogreen Energy several times to start the project and to submit their financial closure report within 180 days, but it is still awaited. They had to reclaim the 10-acre identified land which is also pending. They received the clearance in 2019 as per an agreement with the Haryana government. The concessionaire is only making lame excuses”.

Nagarjuna Reddy, chief operating officer, Ecogreen Energy, said they have also written to the MCG several times regarding clearing of the site but to no avail.

“Our engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor has already been mobilised to the site for the WTE plant construction. However, due to the non-availability of further front for the WTE plant construction at the landfill site, things have come to a standstill. The area is being occupied by heavy machinery and equipment of the contractors appointed by the civic agency. We are unable to carry out levelling and other construction activities at the site. The same has been communicated to the MCG but the civic body is yet to take cognisance of the matter,” Reddy said.

Reddy said they have also written to the MCG for legal opinion pertaining to the Supreme Court order dated June 3, 2022, and April 24 this year regarding Asola wildlife sanctuary, which is a eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) and assurance regarding investment protection. “We received the Aravalli clearance in April, so it was not possible to begin the construction work. This is a dream project of the government and we will complete it by December 2024 once the site is handed over to us,” he said.

Ecogreen had signed a concession agreement with the Haryana government in August 2017 for municipal solid waste management and setting up of a 15MW WTE plant in Bandhwari.

Officials said once it is operational, the WTE plant will have a capacity to produce 25MW energy on a daily basis and will have two boilers, each with a processing capacity of 750 tonnes per day.