The national capital’s public transport system is projected to undergo a significant green transition, with plans to power public buses utilizing hydrogen generated from processed municipal solid waste. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari detailed this environmental infrastructure strategy during a recent political youth convention in New Delhi, highlighting it as a dual solution for clean energy generation and urban waste mitigation.
The proposed framework relies on separating domestic garbage to extract organic components, which will subsequently be processed through specialized biodigester systems to manufacture clean hydrogen fuel. Addressing initial skepticism regarding the commercial viability of the project, Gadkari remarked, “People have asked how this will happen. Has there ever been a time in the last 50 years when something I predicted did not come to pass?” He emphasized that the technological shift is entirely realistic and aligns with broader national targets to systematically eliminate legacy landfill sites by 2027.
The ministry noted that repurposing urban refuse already serves active developmental roles, with approximately eight million tons of excavated landfill waste successfully integrated into regional expressway foundations. Highlighting the economic returns of resource recycling, Gadkari shared that the municipal corporation within his own parliamentary constituency successfully generates nearly ₹325 crore annually through the commercial sale of treated municipal wastewater.
