Indian cities raise waste processing capacity to 80% in 10 years: MoHUA

India has recorded a dramatic expansion in municipal waste processing over the past decade, with capacity rising from just 16% in 2014 to 80.17% in 2024, according to data shared by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in Parliament.

Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu informed the Rajya Sabha on the first day of Winter Session that urban India currently generates 1,66,096 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day, of which 1,33,164 TPD is now scientifically processed.

As of now, 7,783 waste processing facilities have been set up across the country, marking a major infrastructural shift under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U).

Tokhan Sahu said that the growth has been driven by the rapid establishment of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), transfer stations, composting units, construction and demolition (C&D) waste plants, and waste-to-energy facilities, including bio-methanation and waste-to-electricity plants.

Several states and Union Territories—including Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry and Chandigarh—have achieved 100% waste processing coverage. Others such as Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Odisha, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are operating at 90–99% processing capacity, the ministry data shows.

Launched on October 2, 2014, SBM-U aims to make urban India Open Defecation Free (ODF) and ensure scientific management of municipal solid waste. To build on this progress, SBM-U 2.0, introduced on October 1, 2021, focuses on achieving “garbage-free” cities through 100% source segregation, door-to-door waste collection, safe landfill disposal and remediation of legacy dumpsites.

A new Used Water Management (UWM) component has also been added for towns with populations under one lakh.

The MoHUA minister noted that all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in 35 States and UTs were declared ODF in 2019, supported by the construction of 63.81 lakh household toilets and 6.36 lakh community and public toilet seats—both surpassing mission targets.

The Centre has allocated ₹10,930 crore for solid waste management under SBM-U 2.0, of which projects worth ₹9,439 crore have already been approved.