KOCHI: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s proposed waste treatment plant in Kochi has been cleared by the state cabinet. BPCL will provide the necessary land, water and electricity, and lay pipelines for setting up the plant to convert organic waste into compressed biogas at Brahmapuram.
“The Cabinet approved the plant on Wednesday. The facility will be built on land owned by Kochi corporation at Brahmapuram. In the first phase, a plant with the capacity to process 150 tonnes of organic waste will be built. The plant is envisaged in such a way that will enable processing capacity to be increased later,” said Kochi mayor M Anilkumar.
He said BPCL intends to treat organic waste from nearby local bodies as well. “The biogas produced at the plant will be utilised by BPCL and sold through its facilities. The plant will enable the corporation to save crores of rupees it spends annually on waste management. An Indore model waste treatment plant is also under consideration,” the mayor added.
The project has already been set in motion, said BPCL officials. “We have called a tender for a project management consultant.” The last date to submit a bid is July 28. Within a week of bids being submitted, a firm will be shortlisted and working on the project...The selected firm will prepare the detailed project report and submit it to the government,” the official added.
The firm will be asked to prepare and submit a detailed project proposal by October 1. BPCL first proposed the compressed biogas plant in May. Company officials met Ministers P Rajeeve and M B Rajesh to submit the proposal. Following the meeting, the state government entered into an in-principle agreement with the company. BPCL proposed that it would set up the plant using its funds and also bear the recurrent and operational costs.