₹25 cr radiation-based fertiliser plant in Ahmedabad stuck for 8 years over licensing deadlock

Nearly eight years after it was approved, the ₹25-crore radiation-based fertiliser plant at Ahmedabad’s Pirana remains mired in controversy. The 1500 KCi (Kilocurie) gamma radiation facility, set up to convert sewage sludge into fertiliser, has not received central government permission to sell its output.

With India lacking a defined category for fertiliser made from human-waste-derived sludge, the plant’s operational future hangs in the balance.

The plant’s annual operation and maintenance proposal, costing over ₹1 crore, was placed before the water committee on Monday, but no decision was taken.

Committee chairman Dilip Bagriya said the plant, established in 2016, processes sludge generated from municipal wastewater treatment. Though the corporation applied for central licensing, approval has not been granted.

Three years ago, AMC upgraded the unit using improved crusher technology developed jointly with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). However, without a formal fertiliser category, licensing remains unlikely.

Back when the plant was proposed, the project had triggered a heated exchange during an AMC board meeting between the then municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra and former opposition leader Dinesh Sharma. Sharma questioned whether the plant served public interest and whether central approval had been secured. Nehra reportedly walked out of the meeting midway after the confrontation, leaving the proposal clouded in controversy since.