BPCL to provide fund for Brahmapuram project.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has signed an agreement with Kochi Corporation to provide the local body a viability gap fund (VGF) of Rs.25 crore for the proposed waste-to-electricity project at Brahmapuram.

The VGF would be used to pay the difference in the cost of power production and the rate fixed for power purchase from the plant as fixed by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Going by the conditions of the tripartite agreement, the corporation and the State government will have to share the VGF.

For the State government, the Suchitwa Mission will meet the expense and the VGF offered by the BPCL would go to the kitty of the mission.

The corporation is already spending a considerable amount for processing waste generated by the city. Hence, it won’t be a problem for the local body to find means for paying its share, said T.J. Vinod, Deputy Mayor, Kochi Corporation.

The agreement was signed by Amit Meena, secretary, Kochi Corporation and M. V. Prabhakaran, general manager (HR), BPCL Kochi Refinery, in the presence of K.T. Jaleel, Minister for Local Self-Governments.

Kochi Mayor Soumini Jain, Mr. Vinod and Prasad K. Panicker, Executive Director, BPCL Kochi Refinery, were present. The public sector oil company’s contribution as VGF comes as part of Swachh Bharat initiative.

The plant has a capacity to process 300 to 500 tonnes of waste and it will be the responsibility of the local body to collect and transport the refuse to the site. The local body has identified and allotted 20 acres for the plant, which is to come up in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. It would be the responsibility of the firm, which won the bid to set up the plant, to secure all mandatory clearances and set up the plant, Mr. Vinod said.

THE HINDU