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Waste Plant: Government Told to Consider German Firm's Offer

  • A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to immediately consider granting the contract to Bayern Mercantile, a Germany-based company, for setting up a waste treatment plant on the 10 acres at Brahmapuram near Kochi.The Bench comprising Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair and Justice P.S. Gopinathan issued the directive after considering an affidavit filed by the State on the proposals made by the solid waste treatment companies.
  • The State was of the view that the proposal of Bayern Mercantile was viable. The proposal was selected after considering 40-odd proposals submitted by private companies for setting up solid waste treatment plants. The proposals were considered by an expert committee headed by R.V.G. Menon.The court observed that the State had absolutely no financial commitment if a private company was allowed to start a treatment plant. The court said that it will gain by such a deal.The company had sought allotment of 10 acres at Brahmapuram and pleaded for exemption from water and electricity charges. The company also asked for road and rail connectivity to the plant site.

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  • According to the company, it used cold mineralisation technique and the proposed plant could treat 500 tonnes of waste per day. It could convert the solid waste into floor tiles and partition boards. It also claimed that no liquid or emissions of noxious gases would be generated when the waste was processed.The court observed that the State government would not have any obligation since the waste was treated by the company free of cost. The Bench noted that the State did not now earn any revenue from the waste treatment and crores of rupees was spent in the name of waste treatment.
  • The court said ‘no' to the State's plans for a visit Germany by local self-government officials to examine the viability of the project and said that the CD on the working of the method and functioning of the plant proposed by the company could be watched, thus saving a lot of expenditure to be incurred for the proposed visit.

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