Chandigarh: MC to rope in advisory firm to ready draft proposal for waste mgmt plant

A week after the General House of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) unanimously rejected the Integrated Solid Waste Management plant project over flawed terms and suspected financial misappropriation, the civic body is now exploring the idea of hiring of a “transaction advisory” firm to provide expert guidance in drafting a fresh proposal for the city’s new waste management plant.

According to MC officials, the advisory firm will support and improve the city’s solid waste management activities by offering technical guidance, project structuring, and financial modelling.

“The MC, in February, had reached out to NTPC’s Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) Limited, requesting a proposal for setting up a waste processing plant in the city. However, no response has been received so far. Meanwhile, on March 28, the civic body received a proposal from the director of the Centre for Environment, Urban Governance, and Infrastructure Development at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad, seeking collaboration to enhance the city’s solid waste management system,” said MC officials.

HPC to finalise tech for waste processing plant

Officials further said the MC will now write to the High Power Committee (HPC) to finalise the technology for the new waste processing plant and decide if NVVN can assist the city in setting it up. “We will request the committee to appoint ASCI as the transaction advisor on a nomination basis to support the solid waste management system in Chandigarh. Further, we will also request it to float a request for proposal (RFP) for the open selection of an agency as a transaction advisory firm, so that expert guidance can be taken,” the officials said.

Notably, in 2022, the UT administrator had constituted a High Power Committee (HPC) to decide on technology and other aspects of the Integrated Solid Waste Management project. The committee included officers from the Chandigarh administration, representatives from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT) Ropar, as well as the mayor and representatives of councillors.

Based on HPC’s recommendations, an RFP was prepared by IIT Ropar and vetted by NEERI. The proposal was approved in the General House meeting on June 6, 2023, following which tenders were invited.

Planned for Dadumajra, the Integrated Solid Waste Management plant facility was designed to process 600 metric tonnes (MT) of dry, wet, and horticulture waste daily. The project, aimed for a total period of 17 years (including two years for construction and 15 years for operation and maintenance), was presented again in the House meeting last week to finalise the lowest bidding firm. However, the rates quoted by the lowest bidder (L1 agency) were found to be too high. Ultimately, after strong opposition from councillors across party lines, the tender was cancelled, and it was decided to adopt Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technology for processing municipal solid waste in Chandigarh.

Councillor Joshi points out discrepancies in tendering process

BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi highlighted discrepancies in the tendering process. “M/s Hindustan Waste Treatment Private Limited initially quoted ₹4,950 per MT, but later lowered it to ₹3,500 per MT. Why would a company incur a loss of ₹1,500 crore over 17 years? This suggests manipulation to favour certain firms. Moreover, the selected firm refused to collect horticultural, medical and hazardous waste, forcing the MC to process these separately, despite spending crores on the plant. There is a significant gap between the projected and actual waste figures, indicating vested interests,” he alleged.

It is pertinent to mention that until the new project is conceived, approved and executed, the civic body will continue to process daily garbage itself at its various segregated plants.