Minister vows “waste-to-energy” plants across Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister P. Narayana announced that waste-to-energy plants will be established across all 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh, modeled after the advanced facilities in Singapore and Tokyo.

During a visit to the waste-to-energy plant near the Kapuluppada dumping yard in Visakhapatnam, the minister highlighted the state’s commitment to improving waste management infrastructure and resolving the ongoing issues at the dump yard.

Speaking to the media persons, Minister Narayana underscored the importance of the Kapuluppada project and labelled it the first “waste-to-wealth” initiative in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He praised the successful waste management systems that are being followed in Singapore and Tokyo. He said that there is need for Andhra Pradesh to adopt similar modern approaches.

“Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu envisions establishing waste-to-energy plants throughout the state’s 13 districts. Currently, the Visakhapatnam plant, with a capacity of 1,500 tonnes, and the Guntur plant, with 1,000 tonnes, are operational,” said the Andhra Pradesh Minister.

He criticized the previous state government of Andhra for neglecting the state’s waste management systems, noting that no ministers or MLAs from the previous regime had visited the Kapuluppada dumping yard in the last five years.

Narayana also pointed out that Andhra Pradesh had suffered significant financial setbacks under the previous administration, failing to utilize ₹454 crore from the first installment of the 15th Finance Commission for municipal development. This led to the central government withholding an additional ₹300 crore. Additionally, the state lost ₹298 crore in Swachh Bharat funds in 2021 due to the previous government’s negligence.

Narayana pledged to recover these central funds, which the state missed out on due to the mismanagement of the former government.