Tirupati Waste Treatment Model Earns Centre’s Praise for Sustainability Success
Tirupati’s advanced waste and sewage treatment initiatives received national recognition this week as a central delegation of urban affairs officials visited and lauded the city’s circular economy efforts. The integrated model of energy, water, and resource recovery has emerged as a potential benchmark for sustainable municipal operations across India.
A central government delegation led by officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs conducted an inspection of Tirupati’s integrated waste management and sewage treatment infrastructure, reinforcing the temple city’s credentials as a rising model in sustainable urban governance. The visit focused on two core facilities: the solid waste management plant at Ramapuram and the sewage treatment plant at Thukivakam, both of which have been upgraded to comply with clean energy, water reuse, and circular economy standards. The sewage treatment plant, in particular, stood out for its revenue-generating utility model. Officials from the municipal administration explained how the treated wastewater is being channelled to private industrial units, helping reduce freshwater dependency while providing income to the city corporation.
The Ramapuram dump yard has also undergone significant transformation under an integrated solid waste processing framework. The city collects and segregates wet, dry, and plastic waste with impressive efficiency. The wet waste is converted into organic manure and biogas, reducing landfill pressure and fossil fuel dependence. Plastic waste is supplied to cement factories for co-processing—a model aligned with India’s plastic waste management rules and cement industry decarbonisation efforts. The visiting delegation praised these efforts as “impactful examples” of smart governance, citing Tirupati’s integrated approach as replicable for other tier-II and tier-III Indian cities aiming to decarbonise their civic systems. Officials from the Ministry and the Urban Administration department emphasised that the scalability of such systems depends on cross-departmental coordination, skilled workforce training, and regular public participation.
In response, the local civic body briefed the team on its future plan to expand the sewage reuse network, develop digital waste tracking systems, and strengthen urban-rural linkages in resource sharing. The discussion also included prospects of building a self-sustaining municipal ecosystem in Tirupati, in line with the Swachh Bharat Mission’s next phase and national urban climate action goals. In a rapidly urbanising India, the case of Tirupati demonstrates that environmental sustainability and economic efficiency are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are increasingly co-dependent factors in creating resilient, inclusive cities. If supported with consistent policy, financing, and technical expertise, the city’s model can contribute significantly to India’s transition toward zero-emission, circular economy-led urban planning.
