SINGAPORE (April 17): China Jinjiang Environment, the waste-to-energy (WTE) operator, announced it has won its first waste management project in India, a first outside its home base.

The project in Lucknow city, Uttar Pradesh, to be undertaken by Ecogreen Energy, an indirectly-held subsidiary of Jinjiang Environment, has an estimated investment amount of RMB 300 million (S$60.80 million) and an initial cash outlay of INR 241.3 million (S$5.23 million) which will be fully settled from the group’s internal resources.

Under the contract, Ecogreen Energy will complete the construction of the Lucknow project and will have the exclusive right to provide waste treatment services in Lucknow city. It will operate and manage the project under the build-operate-transfer model for the concession period of 30 years, and then transfer ownership back to the relevant local authorities at the end of the concession period.

Expected to start in April 2019, Ecogreen Energy will operate both a waste pre-treatment facility with a designed waste pre-treatment capacity of 1,500 tonnes per day, a waste-to-energy facility as well as a landfill.

Services provided include door-to-door collection and transportation of municipal solid waste from households and businesses; pre-treatment and mechanical separation of municipal solid waste; treatment of biodegradable waste components by way of, among others, composting; power generation from the combustion of refuse-derived fuel; and operation and maintenance of a landfill for residual inert waste components.

Currently, Lucknow city, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, has a waste processing volume of at least 1,400 tonnes per day, including delivery and processing.

Measuring 247.7 sqkm in area, Lucknow city has six districts and a population of 4.5 million with annual growth at 125,000 people. Uttar Pradesh is India's most populous state with the second highest gross domestic product in the country.

Wang Yuanluo, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jinjiang Environment, said: “The Lucknow waste management project, being our first overseas venture, marks an important milestone in our bid to expand our business and bring our WTE expertise outside China.”

Jinjiang Environment had acquired a 99.98% shareholding in Ecogreen Energy in March, with the aim of using it as a platform to explore potential business opportunities in India.

Shares of Jinjiang Environment closed at 89.5 Singaporean cents.