The Hindu 02.03.2013
Waste-to–power project likely to be delayed
The proposal to set up a waste-to-power project may be
re-tendered following doubts about the feasibility of the proposals
received. The re-tendering may delay the implementation of the project,
which would be the first of the kind in the State to be established by
the State government.
An “abnormally low” quantity of
power generation, shown in the technical documents raised suspicion
about the viability of the projects.
A high-level
committee which scrutinised the technical and financial bids submitted
by three firms had sounded caution about the proposal after an
evaluation of the technical and financial bids.
The
committee has recommended to the State government to re-tender the
projects as it feared that some firms may use the unviable project
proposals to raise bank loans and later leave the scene. If the
projects, which are prima facie unviable, are cleared, it would lead to
serious issues in future.
Hence, the committee
thought it fit to recommend re-tendering of the proposals. The Kerala
Suchitwa Mission is coordinating the proposals for setting up a Rs.
350-crore waste to energy project at Brahmapuram which can treat around
500 tonne waste a day. The State authorities have fixed March 2014 as
the deadline for the project.
The State government has proposed seven such plants across the State including Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts.
The
Kochi project was to be implemented in public-private-participatory
mode at the 10 acre land of the Kochi corporation at Brahmapuram.