Delhi's garbage mountains may finally have a deadline. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday, 30 July 2026 oversaw the signing of a landmark MoU at the Delhi Secretariat between the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Oil India Limited (OIL) to establish Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) plants at Tehkhand and Okhla — two sites long at the frontline of the capital's waste crisis — with a combined processing capacity of 800 tonnes per day (TPD).

What the Tehkhand-Okhla plants will actually do

The plants will convert source-segregated organic waste into compressed bio-gas — a cleaner-burning fuel that can substitute for natural gas in industrial and transport applications. CM Gupta described the initiative as reinforcing Delhi's 'Swachh Dilli' (Clean Delhi) commitment, noting it will simultaneously shrink the city's notorious landfill mounds and scale up renewable energy output.

MCD Mayor Pravesh Wahi was present at the signing alongside senior officials from both organisations. The partnership pairs MCD's mandate over solid waste with Oil India Limited's expanding footprint in the bio-energy sector — a public sector petroleum company that has been diversifying into CBG production from organic feedstock.

Okhla, Tehkhand, and Delhi's landfill problem

Okhla is one of Delhi's most strained waste-processing zones, carrying decades of accumulated landfill pressure. Tehkhand, in south Delhi, already hosts waste-processing infrastructure, making both sites logical anchors for high-capacity CBG units. An 800 TPD combined capacity is significant — it targets a meaningful slice of the organic fraction of Delhi's daily municipal solid waste stream.

The move fits within two national frameworks: the Swachh Bharat Mission, launched in 2014, which pushed urban bodies toward scientific waste segregation and processing; and the SATAT initiative, launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, which specifically incentivised CBG plant development across India by creating an assured offtake mechanism through oil marketing companies.

Why an oil PSU is building a garbage-to-gas plant

The MCD–OIL partnership is a textbook example of how India's energy transition is being stitched together at the municipal level. Oil India Limited's involvement signals that CBG is no longer a fringe technology — it is being mainstreamed through PSU balance sheets and long-term offtake guarantees. For Delhi, the deal converts a liability (organic waste) into an asset (pipeline-grade bio-gas), while reducing the methane emissions that unmanaged landfills leak into the atmosphere.

Commissioning timelines for the two plants have not been announced. How quickly the facilities move from MoU to operational status will determine whether this agreement translates into measurable landfill reduction — or joins a longer list of Delhi waste projects that stalled between signing and construction.