New Delhi: Revving up the process to establish the city’s fifth waste-to-energy (WTE) plant at Bawana, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has begun shifting three 400 KV transmission lines that pass through the project site.The relocation is expected to conclude by June. Construction of the boundary wall and setting up the site office will take place simultaneously.“Physical work for shifting the lines has started at the site. While installation of boilers, chimney and other machinery for the WtE plant will begin once the site is cleared and lines are shifted, the concessionaire was also directed to initiate procurement of equipment and, in the meantime, proceed with boundary wall construction and related preparatory work to ensure the plant is completed within the stipulated timeline,” an official said.The plant will process 3,000 metric tonnes of segregated municipal waste per day, generate 28 MW of electricity, cost Rs 604 crore, operate for 25 years, and is slated to become fully operational by Dec 2027. Delhi generates around 11,500 MT of municipal solid waste daily, of which only about 6,550 MT is processed at WtE plants. While four WtE facilities (at Okhla, Ghazipur, Tehkhand and Narela-Bawana) are operational, their combined capacity remains inadequate. Expansion of both Okhla and Tehkhand plants and establishment of the Bawana facility are critical to easing pressure on Delhi’s saturated landfills.In March 2025, MCD issued a work order for this plant after Supreme Court upheld the former’s authority to fix tariffs for the Narela plant, clearing the way for construction. On June 18, the environment ministry granted clearance for the new 30 MW plant at Bawana. Thereafter, then MCD commissioner Ashwani Kumar signed a tripartite agreement with Power Grid and DTL to facilitate removal of the high-voltage lines from the project site in April 2025. As per the arrangement, Power Grid will execute the relocation, while MCD will bear the one-time capital expenditure. For shifting the transmission lines, MCD allocated Rs 23 crore to Power Grid and Rs 3.1 crore to Delhi Transco Limited. “The ownership of these lines is split between Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, with one line belonging to DTL and two to Power Grid,” the official said. Although the initial cost of the line-shifting project was pegged at Rs 24.6 crore and approved in Oct 2023, it rose to Rs 26.4 crore after DTL, in Feb 2025, sought additional payment, citing estimated financial losses due to reduced availability during the shutdown required for the relocation work.
