Webinar on Strategies to Enhance Fly Ash Utilisation in India

In the last decade, annual fly ash generation from power plants has risen by almost 76 per cent -- from 123 million tonnes (MT) in 2009-10 to 226 MT in 2019-20. In fact, in 2019-20, there has been a surge in fly ash breach incidents. Ash is piling up either in wet form as slurry in ash ponds, or in dry form in open fields.

In the past decade, approximately 35-40 per cent of the fly ash generated has, on an average, remained unutilised every year. The legacy ash from the coal power sector was as high as 1.6 billion tonnes as of March 31, 2019.

The Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change has, in the past, laid down several notifications to enhance utilisation of fly ash in cement, construction, brick manufacturing and other sectors. Despite these, many power plants continue to remain non-compliant and do not meet the 100 per cent fly ash utilisation target. In 2020, a CSE report -- An Ashen Legacy - had put the spotlight on these laggards.

These power plants are primarily concentrated in the states of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. Together, they have accounted for 76 per cent of the total residual ash stocks from coal power sector between the years 2010 to 2019.

All coal power states -- especially those with huge ash backlogs -- need to explore possibilities of fly ash utilisation on a war footing. To make this possible, concerted efforts are required at the plant level as well as by the agencies that use ash. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) invites you to a webinar to discuss the strategies and policy interventions needed to give a boost to fly ash utilisation in India.

FOR ANY HELP OR MORE DETAILS

Sukanya Nair
sukanya.nair@cseindia.org,
8816818864