Bengaluru Waste Tender Irregularities Bjp Governor Probe

Governor Thawarchand Gehlot to direct an independent inquiry.

Addressing a news conference before submitting a petition to the Governor, Leader of Opposition R Ashoka said that the ISWM tender for both the North and South packages was awarded to a single company for 30 years, despite objections from the Finance Department.

The Department had advised reducing the tender duration to 10 years and had also highlighted the flaws in the tender, Ashoka said. Moreover, the tender was awarded to a blacklisted company, he alleged.

Among the discrepancies in the tender highlighted in the petition were variations in the tipping fees fixed per tonne. Tipping fees include charges for primary and secondary collection, transportation, processing, and disposal. As per the approved DPR for ISWM, the initial tipping fee estimate was around Rs 1,398 per tonne.

“Subsequently, based on recommendations attributed to consultants, the fee was revised to Rs 2,151 per tonne, representing an increase of over 53 per cent. Thereafter, BSWML approved tipping fees of Rs 2,565 per tonne for the North Package and Rs 2,151 per tonne for the South Package, reflecting increases of approximately 83 per cent and 53 per cent respectively over the original estimate,” the petition said.

While there were no bidders in the first tender call, three bidders participated in the second tender call but were declared technically disqualified. “Surprisingly, the very same bidders … were declared technically qualified in the third tender call,” the petition said, noting that the move raised several concerns regarding the integrity of the evaluation process.

The petition accused Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited, tasked with implementing the project, of relaxing several tender conditions with an apparent objective of qualifying bidders who had earlier been declared ineligible. “Among the technically qualified bidders, Delhi MSW Solutions Limited is reportedly a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ramky Group and emerged as the L-1 bidder,” it said, adding that Ramky had come under fire over its management of the Mavallipura landfill project.

Along with a probe into the tender process, Ashoka has petitioned the Governor to examine the legality of the relaxation of tender conditions, investigate revisions to the DPR and tipping fee calculations, and ensure that no final approval or award of the contract is granted until all allegations are investigated.