Essel Group told to vacate waste management facility in Chennai

CHENNAI: The  Infra Projects (EIF) to hand over the keys of Vengadamangalam waste management facility, which handles the wastes of Sembakkam, Pallavaram and Tambaram municipalities. In the termination notice accessed by Express, failure to begin electricity production from municipal waste has been cited as the primary reason behind the decision to pull the plug.

The move comes even as the Central Electricity Regulation Commission is in the process of resolving a dispute between the company and the State Electricity Regulation Commission over tariffs for the power that would be generated in the 50-acre facility. Essel Infra Projects has been ready to initiate the waste to energy process (Phase 2) if Rs 7.5 is paid for every unit of electricity produced. But, it is learnt that Tangedco is adamant about paying not more than Rs 6.16 per unit.

“How can we invest in infrastructure if the second phase is not viable with the tariff offered,” argued a representative of the company, claiming that the company is suffering a loss of Rs 30 lakh every month to keep the plant operational. In the termination letter, the acting commissioner of the municipality claims that the “construction of the waste to energy plant is very minimal and the insistence on the tariff being fixed prior to even starting the construction is not agreeable.”

However, representatives of EIF claimed that the government has already violated the agreement by stopping waste from Pammal and Anakaputhur and continuously defaulting on the minimum daily waste load of 270 tonnes.

“Tambaram, Pallavaram and Sembakkam municipalities have begun sending high calorific non-recyclable waste directly to cement factories by cutting us out of the mix,” said the representative, claiming it is part of the attempts to strongarm EIF out of the facility by making it to incur losses.

While it is unclear if the termination notice is going to be challenged in court and whether the taxpayer will have to cover for the Rs 54 crore investment that has gone into the plant, a halt in operations is sure to leave the suburbs teaming with garbage.