Mahindra MSTC Recycling Private Limited, a joint venture of the Mahindras and MSTC, plans to set up three collection and dismantling centres in Calcutta, Chennai and Mumbai, in addition to its existing facility at greater Noida.
The company, which buys old vehicles from individuals and institutions, is also expecting to commission a shredding plant at Dahej next year. Scrap cars once collected are transported to the dismantling centres and stripped of polluting materials such as tyres, airbags and batteries before being converted into scrap steel.
“We are planning to set up three more collection and dismantling centres. In Chennai, we have finalised the location. One each is planned in Calcutta and Mumbai,” MSTC’s chairman-cum-managing director B.B. Singh said on the sidelines of a CII organised seminar on Wednesday.
The joint venture has an operational centre on over 6 acres of leased land at Noida and has started collecting end-of-life vehicles, both passenger and commercial ones.
MSTC has also started taking out parts of end-of-life vehicles at Noida and selling them through its e-commerce portal to recyclers, who are authorised by the Central Pollution Control Board. The Noida centre has a capacity to break 50 vehicles a day.
The shredding plant at Gujarat's Dahej with a one-lakh tonne capacity is expected to be commissioned before July. Singh said if there was no adequate supply from the domestic market at Dahej, the company will explore imports from the Gulf countries.
Use of scraps
Singh said India is currently importing seven million tonnes of shredded scrap. Use of domestic scraps could substitute imports and save foreign exchange.
“There will be a requirement of 70 such shredding plants to negate existing imports of shredded scraps and about 300 C&D (collection and dismantling) centres are required to be set up. We are also looking for the upcoming scrap policy,” Singh said.
Every tonne of new steel made from scrap steel is estimated to save 1,115 kg of iron ore, 625 kg of coal, 53 kg of limestone, 642 kilo watt hour of energy and 287 litres of oil.