Inside Mumbai's first waste-to-energy plant at Deonar landfill

Mumbai’s first major waste-to-energy (WTE) plant at the Deonar dumping ground is nearing completion and is expected to become operational by the end of this year, marking a significant step in the city’s long-delayed efforts to modernise waste management infrastructure.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) ambitious project is designed to process 600 tonnes of fresh municipal solid waste every day and generate around 7–8 megawatts of electricity, which will primarily be used for civic projects across the city.

Spread across nearly 12 hectares inside the Deonar dumping ground, the project is currently around 82 per cent complete. Officials said construction of the facility could begin only after nearly one million tonnes of waste at the site were scientifically shifted and stabilised within Deonar itself.

Unlike conventional landfill operations, the plant will process only fresh municipal waste and not legacy garbage accumulated over decades. Though the facility will handle only a fraction of Mumbai’s daily waste generation, it is considered a major milestone as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s first large-scale WTE project at Deonar.

The project had originally been scheduled for earlier completion, but procurement of key raw materials and equipment was delayed due to disruptions linked to the West Asia crisis.

Abhijit Dutta, Project Head of the WTE plant at Ramky Sustainable Solutions, said the facility has been designed with multiple emission-control systems to address environmental concerns often associated with such plants.

“We will segregate the waste within the premises. Acidic gases generated during processing will be neutralised using lime slurry, after which the gases will pass through bag filters that capture particulate emissions before treated air is released through chimneys,” Dutta said.

He added that the facility has been planned as a fully enclosed structure to minimise odour and pollution concerns.

The plant will also avoid the use of fresh water. Instead, treated water will be supplied through a nearly four-kilometre underground pipeline from the Ghatkopar sewage treatment plant. Officials said the plant is expected to consume nearly 480 kilolitres of treated water daily for boiler operations and waste processing.

Alongside bioremediation and Bio-CNG projects at Deonar, the WTE facility is expected to reduce landfill pressure and support Mumbai’s long-term waste management strategy.