Aafrin Kidwai 
A WtE plant in Europe. For representational purpose only
The government has given its nod for a grant of Rs 478 crore to the waste-to-energy (WTE) programme for the remaining period of the financial year 2019-20. This includes a Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of Rs 400 crore with a physical target of 200 MW for municipal solid waste (MSW)-based WTE plants.
The CFA would be in the form of capital subsidy and grants-in-aid, as per the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Projects based on WTE conversion technologies such as bio-methanation, combustion, gasification, pyrolysis or any new technology as approved by the ministry would be eligible for CFA.
For power based on MSW, Rs 5 crore per MW and a maximum CFA of Rs 50 crore per project has been approved. However, the plant should at least be of 5 MW installed capacity to receive the grant. For biogas, Rs 1 crore per 12,000 m3 biogas per day and a maximum CFA of Rs10 crore per project has been approved.
Under the revised guidelines, there will be no maximum limit on the capacity of WTE projects.
Picture Credit: ecoprog.com
