Pimpri-Chinchwad: Two corporators from the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), Sandeep Waghere and Sulabha Ubale, on Thursday alleged irregularities in the tender process for a proposed biogas plant at the Moshi garbage depot and demanded an independent inquiry before the project moves ahead.
Addressing a press conference, the corporators questioned the tender floated by the Environment Engineering Department of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to set up a 375 metric tonnes per day wet waste-to-biogas plant under the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) model on a public-private partnership basis. Both Waghere and Ubale are members of the PCMC standing committee.
Waghere claimed that although the project was initially estimated at around Rs 180 crore, the contractor would receive a tipping fee of Rs 3,611 per tonne of waste processed. According to his calculations, this would amount to nearly Rs 13.54 lakh per day, over Rs 50 crore annually and around Rs 750 crore over 15 years.
He further alleged that the contractor would also earn revenue from the sale of biogas generated by the plant. He claimed this income could reach around Rs 6.3 lakh per day, Rs 22 crore annually and more than Rs 344 crore over the project’s duration. He also alleged that the contractor would receive a subsidy of Rs 37 crore from the civic body, while the municipal corporation would not receive any direct revenue from the project.
The corporators alleged that the tender terms were financially favourable to the private contractor and questioned why the civic body was not considering operating the project on its own. They also levelled allegations against Environment Engineering Department Chief Engineer Sanjay Kulkarni, claiming the project had been designed to benefit the contractor at the cost of the municipal corporation. However, they did not provide evidence to support the allegations.
Waghere and Ubale also claimed that the project would produce large quantities of biogas and organic fertiliser, generating additional revenue for the contractor.
The corporators demanded that the tender process, financial calculations and contract conditions be examined by an independent expert committee before any further decision is taken. They also sought complete transparency in the financial aspects of the project and urged the civic administration not to approve any proposal that could harm the interests of the municipal corporation.
Corporators Vikas Sane and Raju Bansode were also present at the press conference.
