Private Public Partnership in Urban Infrastructure Projects: Getting Sweet Curd from Spoilt Milk?

Rapid growth in urban population has made Solid Waste Management an important issue for civic administration. The 74th amendment of the Constitution of India and Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 has made municipal solid waste management the responsibility of urban local bodies (city corporations and municipal corporations). Further, the Supreme Court of India, acting on Public Interest Litigation directed all urban local governments to install scientific solid waste treatment plants before a set timeline. Installing a scientific waste management system was a costly proposition, which many urban bodies found difficult to bear. Many have sought participation of the private sector in solid waste management. The city corporation of Thiruvananthapuram also invited participation of Poabs Group to set up a waste processing plant in the corporation owned land outside the city. Right from inception the project ran into social and political opposition. The investor was enticed by the government to stick to the project by offering various concessions. There were interface issues of very serious nature between the plant and corporation employees whose support was absolutely necessary for continued, viable operation of the plant. However, the concessions remained in paper and the operations of the plant reached a stalemate. Based on the experiences of the private investor, various governance and policy level implications for public private participation in urban infrastructure projects (specifically solid waste management) are discussed.