A ₹4.05-crore Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR) for overhauling solid waste management contracts was floated recently to “transform 12 highly-populated Municipal Corporations into garbage-free cities”, with a framework introducing performance-linked parameters for stricter contractor accountability.
“Before these 12 corporations and municipalities float fresh tenders, the DFR will study best practices and key parameters for monitoring solid waste management. The framework will be tightened in line with national and international best practices and will also conform to the Solid Waste Management Rules 2026,” a senior official told The Hindu.
The tender was floated through the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited (TNUIFSL) for preparing a DFR relating to Solid Waste Management (SWM) under the Project Development Grant Fund in three packages of ₹1.35 crore each.
The deadline for online proposal submissions is July 27, 2026.
The 12 municipal corporations grouped in three packages are Avadi, Hosur, Tambaram and Vellore; Coimbatore, Erode, Salem and Tiruppur; and Madurai, Thoothukudi, Tiruchirappalli and Tirunelveli. The official said the exercise applies only to the 12 municipal corporations where existing three-year outsourced conservancy agreements are nearing completion.
The earlier contracts were sanctioned under Government Order No. 116 issued by the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department on August 24, 2022. “Solid waste management in these specific urban local bodies has been carried out exclusively by private agencies for the last three years, and no new geographical zones or civic wards are being handed over to private players,” he said.
Some of the regulations in the regional tenders floated in 2022 were “very loose”, and operated on basic manpower deployment and garbage tonnage metrics, the official added.
Under the proposed framework, contractor payments and penalties are expected to be linked to performance indicators such as the timely deployment of waste collection vehicles, maintenance of public toilets and deployment of conservancy workers for night cleaning operations, he added.
Published – June 21, 2026 02:57 am IST
