The Tamil Nadu government has cancelled a tender to appoint consultants to prepare a Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR) on overhauling solid waste management contracts in 12 municipal corporations after backlash.

The solid waste management in these urban local bodies had already been privatised in 2022. However, the recently floated ₹4.05-crore tender for preparing the DFR was misconstrued by many as a fresh attempt to privatise waste management operations, a source in the Corporation told The Hindu.

To clear the confusion, the State has decided to review the existing system, identify gaps, bring further improvements where necessary, and take the decision in due course, the official said.

The tender, floated earlier this month through the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited (TNUIFSL), was intended to develop a framework for fresh sanitation contracts as the existing three-year outsourced conservancy agreements near completion in the municipal corporations of Tambaram, Avadi, Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Tiruchi, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi.

“Solid waste management in these urban local bodies has been carried out by private agencies for the last three years, and no new geographical zones or civic wards are being handed over to private players,” the official had said when the tender was floated.

He had added that some of the conditions in the regional tenders floated in 2022 were “very loose”, relying largely on manpower deployment and garbage tonnage metrics. The proposed framework was intended to tighten monitoring by linking contractor payments and penalties to performance indicators such as timely waste collection, maintenance of public toilets and deployment of conservancy workers for night cleaning operations.