Economic growth leading to rise in e-waste generation: Govt

India's economic growth, with rise in per capita income coupled with high obsolescence rate of electronic equipment, are leading to increase in the rate of e-waste generation, the government said today.

Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha said that India's per capita generation of e-waste in 2014 was 1.3 kg per inhabitant which was much less than other countries like the US, Japan and China.

"The country's economic growth with rise in per capita income and technological innovations coupled with high obsolescence rate of electronic and electrical equipment are leading to increase in the rate of generation of e-waste," Dave said.

He said that Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has projected 8.0 lakh tonnes of e-waste generation in 2010.

"As per the United Nations University report 'The Global E Waste Monitor 2014', 17 lakh tonnes of e-waste generation was reported in the country in 2014.

"The report notes that the per capita generation of e-waste in 2014 in India was 1.3 kg per inhabitant, which was much less than that in US (22.1 kg/inhabitant), Japan (17.3 kg/inhabitant), China (4.4 kg/inhabitant and many other countries," he said.

He said that the total capacity of 178 dismantling or recycling units located in 14 states is 441085.6 metric tonnes per annum.

According to an earlier study, India, the fifth largest producer of e-waste, is likely to generate 52 lakh metric tonnes of electronic waste by 2020 from the current level of 18 lakh metric tonnes.