Drawing power from gutkha

The ban on sale of gutkha, it seems, has come as a boon for Maharashtra which is facing perennial power crunch. Electricity is being generated by using the seized gutkha packets at a waste disposal firm in Pune.

Truckloads of gutkha packets seized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after the ban on the tobacco product came into force in July last year are being transported to Rochem Green Energy, a Pune-based firm, to generate electricity. This was announced by FDA minister Manohar Naik in the Legislative Council recently.

The FDA had seized gutkha packets worth Rs14.5 crore till February 2013. The FDA commissioner then got in touch with Rochem Green Energy and sought their help in disposing it. The waste disposal company then agreed to generate electricity by using the gutkha packets.

Gutkha packets are heated in an oxygen-free vessel before being turned into gas as part of the power generation process.

“It is not that we have tied up with the waste disposal firm to generate electricity. We asked this company to carry out disposal of gutkha packets,” said FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagade.

How it works
Gutkha packets are first dried and then heated in an oxygen-free vessel.

After the process is over, the char is removed and the gas is moved to a steam reformer to generate electricity.