New Delhi: India has so far installed 96 waste-to-energy projects for generation of power based on urban, industrial, agricultural and municipal solid waste, power and renewable energy minister R K Singh said.

"As per a study, the total estimated energy generation potential from urban and Industrial organic waste in India is approximately 5,690 Megawatt," Singh said in a written reply in Parliament.

Talking about the major challenges faced by waste-to-energy plants regarding generation and efficiency, the minister said that lack of an efficient mechanism to segregate waste into biodegradable, dry and wet carbonaceous materials remains a major challenge.

Poor quality of municipal solid waste, lack of indigenous technology, and high capital and operation and maintenance costs of waste-to-energy systems are challenges hindering the growth of these plants.

"During the last three years, funds to the tune of Rs 76 crore were allocated under Waste to Energy Programme out of which Rs 32.64 crore were released to various developers for setting up of Waste to Energy projects for generation of Biogas or BioCNG," the minister said.

In order to recover energy from waste and the effluents generated from industries like distillery, paper, pulp and pharmaceutical units 199 projects with cumulative capacity of 329.43 Megawatt have been set up so far.

Singh also said under the National Clean Energy Fund the finance ministry had in 2014 approved a grant of Rs 120 crore as Viability Gap Funding for setting up of 12 Megawatt Waste-to-Energy plants in Delhi.