Madurai corp to develop waste-to-energy plant at Vellaikal dump yard

In a significant step towards strengthening solid waste management, the Madurai City Corporation is set to begin work on a long-awaited waste-to-energy and scientific landfill project at the 50-acre Vellaikal dump yard in Tamil Nadu.

The Vellaikal waste to energy project aims to process the majority of the city’s municipal waste and generate electricity from it. Madurai produces around 850–900 tonnes of solid waste daily, and the proposed facility has been designed to handle up to 900 tonnes per day. The Vellaikal site itself handles about 650 tonnes of solid waste daily, with 150 tonnes processed at micro-composting centers, as per one estimate.

As per reports, the upcoming waste-to-energy plant is expected to generate around 15 kW of electricity, which will be supplied to the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation. The facility will be developed under a public-private partnership on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) model. Under this arrangement, a concessionaire will undertake construction, operation and maintenance of the plant for a concession period of 30 years.

To support the project’s financial viability, the corporation has allocated Rs 125 crore as Viability Gap Funding (VGF). The municipal body will remain responsible for transporting and supplying the city’s solid waste to the facility.

As part of an integrated waste management strategy, wet waste will be directed to proposed waste-to-gas units at the same location, while the remaining waste will be processed in the waste-to-energy plant. This approach is expected to significantly enhance the city’s waste processing capacity.

The initiative aligns with the Tamil Nadu government’s push for scientific waste management as landfill space continues to shrink and urban waste generation rises.

According to the Swachh Survekshan 2024–25 report, Madurai received only a 4 per cent rating for waste processing compared to waste generation. While the corporation has expanded processing capacity through 30 micro-compost yards that currently handle most of the city’s wet waste, environmental activists believe the Vellaikal project could mark a major turning point in improving the city’s waste management system.

In October 2024, the Madurai City Corporation had sent a proposal worth Rs 314 crore to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for the construction of a waste-to-energy plant at the Vellaikal dumpyard. Before that the civic body had also obtained administrative approval from the Department of Municipal Administration of Tamil Nadu to establish a bio-CNG plant near the same dumpyard.