The municipal corporation’s long-pending solid waste management project is finally nearing reality after both bids for the tender successfully cleared their technical evaluations.
The civic body had struggled to attract investors for over a year, with previous tenders drawing no interest due to the project’s high cost and long-term commitments. The latest tender, issued on March 21 and was set to close on April 7, faced seven deadline extensions before finally securing two bids in July.
This milestone is significant because if even one firm had failed, the tender would have collapsed and required a fresh issuance.
SE Sham Lal Gupta said, “Now that the technical evaluations are complete the civic body is engaged in financial discussions with both firms, and a contract will be awarded only after thorough deliberations.”
The comprehensive ₹1,408-crore project, titled ‘Development of Integrated Solid Waste Management (collection, transportation, processing & disposal) for MC Ludhiana through public-private partnership,’ encompasses door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) in segregated manner from waste generators of the corporation, transportation to secondary compactor transfer stations, and final processing and disposal facilities.
This initiative is critical as Ludhiana faces a severe processing deficit, generating around 1,100 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste daily against a meager 300-tonne daily capacity at the Jamalpur plant. This massive gap has caused garbage to accumulate into towering mounds that grow larger by the day.