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MC fails to attract bids for waste management project for 3rd time
Ludhiana's municipal corporation struggles to attract bidders for its ₹1408 crore Integrated Solid Waste Management project, extending the deadline again.
The municipal corporation (MC) again failed to get any bidders for the tender issued for development of Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) project, for the third time. The urban body extended the bidding window further for a week on Friday.
The1408 crore project for MC Ludhiana through Public Private Partnership’ (PPPs) includes door to door collection of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in segregated manner from waste generators of the corporation, transportation of MSW up to the secondary compactor transfer stations, and processing and disposal facility.
The current Request for Proposal (RFP) was floated on March 21 and was to close on April 7, but due to the lack of bidders the closing date is pushed to April 17. The bidding window was to close at 5 pm, on Friday but as there were no bidders the submission date has been pushed till April 23.
The superintending engineer Sham Lal Gupta, confirmed the lack of bidders and the extension of the window. He also said that the Punjab Development Commission (PDC) had asked the MC to make some changes to the tender to attract bidders.
“We have now extended the bidding time by a week. We expect bidders before this closes,” he said.
The MC also released clarification on the queries by stakeholders on the RFP. The corporation has said that 35 acres of litigation free land will be handed over to the contractor and that it will make arrangements for any more land needed. It also said that the required number of secondary compactor transfer stations will be given to the contractor.
An MC official said that the corporation has been floating tenders for this project for over a year with revised RFPs but so far it had failed to attract any investor. He added that it was the long commitment and high cost of the project that made contractors apprehensive.
