Nagpur: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday issued a final warning to Netherlands-based Sustainable Business Development (SusBDe) over delays in setting up a waste-to-biogas plant in the city. He directed the company to complete the project by May 2025, cautioning that failure to meet the deadline could result in contract termination, reports The Times of India.
During a review meeting, attended by municipal commissioner Abhijit Chaudhari, additional municipal commissioner Anchal Goyal, and superintending engineer Shweta Banerjee, Chaudhari presented a report stating that SusBDe had yet to begin work on-site despite signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2023.
Sources said the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) recommended ending the contract due to repeated delays. When questioned, SusBDe representatives cited pending machinery imports as the cause but assured that 350 metric tonnes (MT) of waste would be processed daily by March, with an increase to 500 MT by April.
Despite growing frustration over the slow progress, Fadnavis granted the company a final chance, setting a May-end deadline for project completion. A review meeting will be held in May 2025 to determine the next course of action.
In October 2024, NMC commissioner Chaudhari issued a show-cause notice to SusBDe for failing to meet waste processing targets. The company was supposed to begin treating Nagpur’s solid waste within six months of signing the MoU, but it is currently processing only 200 MT per day, while the city generates around 1,400 MT daily.
The project, originally scheduled to be operational by November 2024, was given an extended deadline until March 2025. However, with the current pace of work, even meeting this revised timeline appears unlikely.
NMC had allocated 30 acres of land at Bhandewadi for the plant. As per the agreement, once operational, the civic body would receive an annual royalty of ₹15 lakh from SusBDe. Additionally, NMC and SusBDe would share carbon credits generated from waste processing.
The 15-year agreement includes performance reviews every five years, with the possibility of an extension of up to 30 years if the project is deemed successful. Under the terms, SusBDe was expected to produce 27 million cubic meters of compressed biogas annually from both legacy and fresh waste.
However, a senior NMC official revealed that work at the site remains far behind schedule. The company has not yet completed civil works, with only foundation construction currently underway.
At present, SusBDe operates a temporary plant on a nine-acre plot, producing compost from 200 MT of waste daily. If no significant progress is made in the coming months, NMC may consider scrapping the contract and exploring other options.
