The deadline for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)’s plan to set up its largest waste-to-energy (WtE) plant in Narela-Bawana has been pushed back to December 2028 even as the civic agency is facing issues in relocating high-tension power lineis passing through the site, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
MCD in 2022 had proposed its fifth WtE plant in the Capital with a capacity to process 3,000 metric tonnes of waste daily and generate 28 MW of electricity. Planned at an estimated cost of ₹604 crore, the plant is designed for a 25-year operational life. The initial deadline to commence operations was December 2025 which was pushed back to December 2027 and now to December 2028.
A senior civic official said the relocation of the towers and power lines is difficult due to conflicting alignment with other infrastructure projects and metro lines. “We are facing issues in getting a no-objection certificate regarding the relocation. There are six towers on the site and we will be able to relocate five but the sixth tower is falling along alignment of other projects. We are looking for alternative alignment and the tower may be moved further ahead towards green belt,” the official said.
In April 2025, MCD had signed a multi-party agreement to clear a portion of the site where three 400 KV transmission lines are currently passing. One of these lines is overseen by Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) and two by Power Grid Corporation of India. The grid corporation has prepared the estimates of ₹24.66 crore for shifting the lines. MCD officials said that the infrastructure adjustment will ensure uninterrupted progress of the project.The deadline to relocate the lines was June 2026 however, land hurdles have delayed it further.
MCD officials said that the overall area of the proposed site is 35 acres but due to these transmission lines, the land available for setting up the plant is reduced to 8.4 acres which is not sufficient for setting up a plant of this massive capacity. Once the lines are relocated, the entire site can be accessed for construction.
The Capital’s reliance on WtE plants for processing waste has increased over the last decade even though these sites have seen protests from local residents. The plant had also taken centre stage ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections with the local residents raising environmental and health concerns and a section threatening to boycott the polls if the project proceeds.
The project also faced local resistance in the past with residents from around 17 villages protesting against the construction citing environmental pollution.
A senior MCD official said that four waste to energy plants are currently operational with Okhla at 1550 TPD, Narela-Bawana-12,400 TPD, Ghazipur at 1,300 TPD and Tehkhand at 2,000 TPD. HT had recently reported that environmental clearance has been granted by the Centre to expand Tehkhand facility by 1,000 TPD.
“The Tehkhand project is likely to be completed by December 2027. Two new WtE plants are proposed to be set up at Narela-Bawana with 3,000 TPD capacity by December 2028 and a new plant at Ghazipur with 2,000 TPD capacity by December 2028. With new plants and expansion, additional capacity of 7,000 TPD will be added,” official explained.
