Hudco, which set up a waste management cell in 1994, has sanctioned loans amounting to Rs 105.99 crore for 12 waste management projects costing Rs 213 crore upto February 11, 1999.

Said Hudco's chairman and managing director, V Suresh: "Hudco, in association with Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), is collaborating to dove-tail incentives and finances available from different sources, to offer a comprehensive package to promoters of waste to energy projects". He added that Hudco had a similar tie-up with the Ministry of Agriculture for solid-waste management schemes.

The corporation's waste management services include consultancy, projectisation-phasing, financial and technical tie-ups and monitoring of projectsundertaken by local urban bodies, private companies, non-governmental organisations, development authorities and health care establishments in both public and private sector.

Suresh said Hudco was providing finance up to 70 per cent of the project cost at the rate of 14-14.5 per cent for 10 to 15 years for government-guarantee schemes and at the rate of 14.5-15 per cent for non-government guarantee schemes.

Hudco's financing conditions stipulate use of proven technologies by promoters -- either biomethanation, pelletisation, sanitary land filling with gas recovery, gasification, incineration or mix of these technologies for fuel recovery from urban, municipal and industrial wastes.

For commercial power generation projects, MNES is providing investment subsidy upto 50 per cent of equity stake of the promoter in the project limited to Rs one crore per mega watt. In addition to this, the ministry is providing interest subsidy of 10 per cent of the loan amount subject to maximum of Rs one crore per megawatt. To expedite projects, the government's subsidy is being routed through Hudco.

The 12 projects sanctioned by Hudco include solid waste management (SWM) for the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad as also Cochin, Calicut, Vijaywada, Rajkot, Varanasi and Shillong. The Hudco board last week sanctioned Rs 16.48 crore for a bagasse based co-generation project in the Sangli district, Maharashtra.

In January, it sanctioned Rs 59.96 crore for three bagasse based co-generation projects in Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The four bagasse projects will generate total 56 mw power. The Rs 14.87 crore SWM project in Hyderabad-Secunderabad, for which Hudco has sanctioned Rs 10.41 crore, comprises a complete and integrated solid waste management system including collection, transportation, transfer stations, sanitary landfill, incinerators and health education.