The new garbage tenders for Bengaluru led to the first face-off between the new Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly R. Ashok on Wednesday. While Mr. Ashok lodged a complaint with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and Karnataka Lokayukta alleging a “₹39,000 Crore scam with a ₹10,000 Crore kickback” in the new Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) tenders and demanded a probe, Mr. Shivakumar hit back, saying Mr. Ashok had become a “spokesperson for the garbage mafia”. 

Mr. Ashok alleged that the tender was brought to the Cabinet and approved just before Siddaramaiah resigned as Chief Minister. He claimed that “the tender was approved allegedly under pressure from the 'high command’ even as around 10 Ministers protested”. 

However, Mr. Shivakumar asked why garbage tenders could not be called during the BJP’s time. “Their [BJP’s] own MLAs have told us that garbage tenders were not allowed to be called for the past 10-12 years. They moved court for everything. Finally, the court ruled that the government's decision was correct,” he said, adding MLAs were indulging in blackmail politics over garbage. “Arvind Limbavali had stopped garbage transportation altogether. We gave a grant of ₹800 crore due to pressures from MLAs,” he said. 

‘Vendor to invest ₹6000 crore’

Contracts for end-to-end SWM collection, processing and disposal for the entire city have been split into two packages — North and South — and the same firm, Delhi MSW Solutions Limited, said to be a subsidiary of the Ramky Group, has reportedly bagged them for 30 years, extendable by another five years, totalling about ₹39,000 crore. The company will invest nearly ₹6,000 crore and build waste processing parks on land provided by the State government, Mr. Shivakumar said. “Gas and electricity must be produced from waste. Previously, we had given permission to 14–15 firms to produce energy from waste. Not a single one succeeded. Before taking this decision, I visited Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai to study the matter,” he said.

Mr. Ashok alleged that the tipping fee per tonne of waste, currently ₹260, would rise to ₹2,400, an increase of 950%. However, officials said this was misleading. They said the present tipping fee is only for the collection and transportation of waste, and under the new contract, the company will also be responsible for processing the waste in the parks it will invest in and build, an official said.

FD objections

However, Mr. Ashok further pointed out that the Finance Department had raised several objections, including both packages being awarded to the same firm, a 30-year contract tenure, and a 5% annual escalation in the tipping fee, which appear to have been overruled.

The Finance Department had advised reducing the period to 10 years and the escalation to 2.5%, warning that otherwise it would become a huge burden in the future, he said. He added that consultant RITES Ltd. for the DPR had initially estimated the tipping fee at ₹1,398 per tonne, but it was later revised to ₹2,151 per tonne based on recommendations attributed to consultants, an increase of over 53%.

Ready to face probe 

While BJP has demanded an independent and time-bound inquiry into the entire ISWM tenders, Chief Minister Mr. Shivakumar said he was ready to face any probe into the tenders. “Let them submit a report anywhere. Let alone ₹36,000 crore — even if ₹10 crore is misused, let them investigate. I am ready to face it,” he said.