Bengaluru, 30 May

BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje alleged massive irregularities in solid waste management contracts worth Rs 39,437 crore that was recently approved by the State government.

In a statement on X on Saturday, the Bengaluru North MP demanded either a Lokayukta or CBI probe into the matter, alleging that the BWSSB tenders were issued to companies that the Finance Department had earlier disqualified from the process.

The Cabinet recently approved the Delhi-based MSW Solutions Ltd, connected to Ramky Group. The group will process and dispose of the City’s 5,200 tonnes of waste for the next 30 years, single-handedly.

However, Karandlaje noted that the Finance Department had repeatedly issued tenders for the massive project.

In a letter to Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, the first tender, Karandlaje said, was cancelled under questionable circumstances, and the second tender saw technical disqualification of all participants. But in the third tender, the same entities were treated as qualified.

“Such unexplained reversal creates a strong apprehension of manipulation in technical evaluation to suit predetermined private interests,” she stated.

Additionally, she alleged that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) consultant was changed to M/s BCG after a report was already prepared by M/s Rites Limited, alleging that costs had been massively inflated.

Furthermore, she claimed that the lowest quoted bid was significantly higher than the acceptable tender limits.

The lowest quoted bids were reportedly far beyond acceptable tender limits, and despite negotiations, the final accepted rates remained substantially above the prescribed threshold.

“What renders this matter even more serious is that official Finance Department had categorically rejected critical aspects of the proposal,” Karandlaje wrote.

She alleged that the Finance Department had flagged major lapses in land acquisition costs for the project, but these seemed to have been ignored.

She questioned if the Cabinet had been fully apprised of all the developments.