UltraTech Cement Ltd, in partnership with Prayagraj Nagar Nigam, has launched a waste management initiative at the Maha Kumbh 2025 being held at Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The initiative, titled Mahakumbh ka Mahasankalp, aims to address the challenge of plastic waste at the Maha Kumbh, considered to be the world’s largest spiritual gathering.
The Mahakumbh ka Mahasankalp initiative commenced on 22 January 2025 and will run up to 28 February 2025. The initiative aims to collect plastic waste and process it to use as alternative fuel for cement production at Dalla Cement Works, UltraTech’s integrated plant in Sonbhadra district, Uttar Pradesh.
UltraTech has deployed sanitation workers and waste plastic collection bins across high-footfall locations in Prayagraj such as Triveni Sangam and Maha Kumbh’s designated sectors.
With a multi-pronged waste collection strategy, the initiative focusses on plastic waste collection, segregation and processing ensuring safe disposal. This approach reduces reliance on use of conventional fossil fuels for cement manufacturing while also reducing the societal burden of landfilling plastic waste as well as minimising the environmental risk of plastic waste leaching into soil and water bodies.
In addition to processing waste collected through the Mahakumbh ka Mahasankalp initiative, UltraTech will also process the waste collected independently by Prayagraj Nagar Nigam from Maha Kumbh 2025. To date 400t of plastic waste collected at the Maha Kumbh has been processed as alternative fuel at the Dalla Cement Works.
UltraTech already provides ongoing support to the municipal corporations of Prayagraj and Lucknow for co-processing segregated municipal plastic waste at the Dalla plant. The initiative taken up by UltraTech for sustainable plastic waste disposal at Maha Kumbh is in addition to the ongoing support provided by the company to both these municipalities for safe disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW).
