Following its adoption of the fly ash utilisation policy last year, the Maharashtra government is now planning to give away the material for free. At its first meeting held on Tuesday, the Fly Ash Council told the state power generation company, Mahagenco, to work out how to provide the material to industries within 100km of its power plant, according to The Indian Express.

"It has been observed that industries are discouraged from buying fly ash because of high transportation cost. Giving it away would set off some of the load and encourage more companies to use fly ash," said an official for the energy department.

The utilisation policy aims to use 100 per cent of fly ash generated from thermal and biogas plants in construction activities.