Indore(MP): The city of Indore has been declared the cleanest city in the country for the third consecutive year. Taking a step further, it laid out a plan to produce methane gas from biodegradable waste accumulated from vegetable markets to run buses.
The gas produced is used for running local buses in the city while by-product is sold as compost to farmers. Apart from the gas produced, the bio compost itself earns the municipality of Indore a profit of around 12-13 lakh per month.
Increasing plant capacity
Approximately 700 kilolitres of gas which is produced in this plant fuels 10- 12 buses. The remaining gas is used for running generators in the plant.
The current capacity of the waste plant is 20 tonne. The municipality, however, has plans to increase it to 40 tonnes in the near future. It aims to run 24 buses with methane gas in the near future.
Production of 800 litres of gas per day
The Indore Municipality has mastered the effective use of bio-waste. A biogas plant worth rupees seven crores has been installed near the Chauthram Sabzi mandi in the city. The Mahindra and Mahindra group has been funding this project since its establishment.
Profit to the Municipality
The biofertilizer produced in the process is sold to farmers at low costs. This in turns helps in recurring the amount spent on maintaining the plant. While the methane gas earns them around rupees 1.5 crores.
Municipal Commissioner Ashish Singh informs that "The plant was established in the year 2017 and has been run by the members of the Municipality themselves."
The ownership of the plant is to be handed over by the Mahindra and Mahindra group to the Indore Municipality by the next few years.
