BMC's 4,000cr waste collection tender bars fgn companies, JVs

Time of India

5 hours ago

Mumbai: In the wake of the row over Turkish-origin robotic life buoys that were to be deployed at six city beaches and the political backlash from BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) over Turkiye's support for Pakistan, BMC's Rs 4,000-crore waste collection and transport tender has barred joint ventures with foreign firms, reports Richa Pinto.
Last month, BMC, after almost 15 years, floated the tender to replace 1,000 waste collection vehicles. It also plans to phase out community waste bins over the next 3 years. While civic officials denied political backlash had led to barring of foreign firms, a BMC document accessed by TOI says, "International companies cannot bid directly or through their subsidiaries or in JV." Recently, a pre-bid meet was held for the tender where there were discussions on the Çelebi case.
BMC's Rs 4,000-crore waste collection and transport tender, which was floated last month, has barred joint ventures with foreign firms.
When contacted, additional municipal commissioner Ashwini Joshi, in charge of the solid waste management department, said it being a labour-intensive work, wherein a large quantum of labourers is required, it has been decided not to allow foreign firms. "Also, as it is a seven-year work, we want to ensure that labourers are available throughout the project period," she said.
But recently, a pre-bid meet was held for the tender where there were discussions on the Çelebi case. "The recent challenges being faced in Turkish company Celebi's case is a classic example which teaches that essential public services should not be made open to international firms," states BMC's pre-bid document. Centre has revoked the security clearance of Celebi and its associated companies at airports citing national security concerns.
BMC's tender follows a service-based model, where a single agency will manage both wa-ste collection and transport us-ing high-capacity, colour-coded vehicles, 10–15% of which will be electric. Currently, contracts are of two types: service-based, where the contractor owns the collection system; and hiring-based, where vehicles are provided by the contractor and the infrastructure is BMC-owned.
Managing multiple systems has posed coordination challenges, said BMC, adding that service-based contracts are estimated to be 25% more cost-effective than hiring-based ones. Hence, service-based contracts are being proposed across all wards except L (Kurla), M-East (Govandi), and M-West (Chembur), all of which are areas closer to Kanjurmarg and Deonar dumping grounds. There are also plans to phase out community bins, which officials said would be done over a period of time through education and awareness activities, which are also part of the contract.