GURGAON: The project to construct a new sewage treatment plant in IMT Manesar has been postponed by over a month in its very initial stages, according to the industry authority HSIIDC, which cited 'administrative reasons' explaining the delay.

"We have revised the last date of opening of tenders for the private firms. The bids will now be opening on May 30," said an official. Proper waste-management in IMT Manesar has always been a challenge for the authorities, with the industries here generating millions of gallons of effluent waste every day that often choked up the sewer lines.

According to the proposal, the new plant is to have a carrying capacity of 25 million gallons a day (MGD), exceeding the volume of sewage treated at the existing plant by about 10 MGD.

The HSIIDC has earmarked about Rs 66 crore for the project, which will include upgrade work on the existing treatment plant by doubling its capacity. "The private firm will be given authority to plan, design and construct the new treatment plant. And once the work is done, the firm will be given the responsibility to operate and maintain the new plan for about 120 months, before we take it over," the official said.