RANITEC CETP

Ranipet, an industrial town located at 110 km away from Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, is being an important large cluster of tanneries processing hides and skins from Raw to Finished Leather. The effluent generated from the tanning processes of these tanneries are treated in the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), which was established in the name and style "Ranipet Tannery Effluent Treatment Company" popularly known as RANITEC. RANITEC is one such successful facility catering to the needs of 92 tanneries connected to the CETP, which born out of urgent need to address the pollution control problems faced by these tanneries during the first half of 90's.

RANITEC CETP is one of the largest CETP in tannery sector in Tamil Nadu with an installed treatment capacity of 4500 Cu.m/day. The 92 tanneries connected to the CETP-ZLD system with an annual turn-over of over Rs. 3000 Crores is the economic backbone of the Ranipet District of Tamil Nadu.

The RANITEC CETP was commissioned during the year 1995 to treat the effluent discharged by the members as per the norms of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) except Total Dissolved Solids (TDS).

In the year 2011, the CETP has installed Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) System with partial assistance from Govt. of India and Govt. of Tamil Nadu under the Up-gradation and Installation of Infrastructure for Environmental Protection in the tanning industry of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I) under the ILDP scheme at a cost of Rs.460 million of 11th Five Year Plan.

During the year 2021, in order to meet the increase in operation and maintenance cost of the ZLD System, the RANITEC CETP was upgraded at a cost of Rs.950 million under the Indian Footwear, Leather, Accessories and Development Program (IFLADP), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), MoC&I, Govt. of India and Govt of Tamil Nadu with the state-of-art- technology. The upgradation includes installation of 4 MWp Solar Power Generation Plant, 1 Ton/hr. Solar Steam Generation Plant, Vacuum Swing Adsorption technology for generation of pure oxygen, etc.

Unique feature of ZLD System in RANITEC:

• In line with the principle of the CETP to manage pollution through Four R's 'Reduce, Recover, Recycle & Reuse', the CETP has adopted and commissioned the Zero Liquid Discharge System during the year 2011 as per the direction of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
• Since, the ZLD System is unique to the Tamil Nadu Industries like tanneries and textiles which involves huge operation and maintenance cost wherein 40% share involves the Power cost.
• The CETP is successfully achieving the ZLD System since 2011. This has not only improved the quality of ground water but also reduced the extraction of groundwater by the industries to an extent 85-90%.
• Due to use of RO treated water supplied to the member tanneries the production cost has also reduced by 2 to 3% by way of savings in the chemicals used in the tanning process.