West Bengal has suggested the sponge iron units in the State to set up solid waste-based captive power plants on a cooperative model. The initiative is expected to reduce carbon emission.
These power plants use heat generated from (solid) waste.Binay K Dutta, Chairman, West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), said on Monday the Board proposed that three or four small and medium sponge iron units to join hands to set up such power plants to make them viable.
“Sponge iron units told us that they would respond in a month’s time,” Dutta said here while addressing a meeting on the Fiscal Instruments for Climate Friendly Industrial Development project organised by CII.
According to Dutta, of the 59-odd sponge iron units across the State, almost 50 per cent are small and medium category. He added that cooperative models for captive power plant development would also help them attract private players.
Of the total, 15 sponge iron units are currently shut.
“In Kolkata alone, we get 4000 tonnes of solid waste a day, while that from the entire State crosses 12,000 tonnes a day,” he said.