In a first, Bengaluru civic body BBMP to buy private land to process waste

Bengaluru: The state government has given conditional approval for the Bengaluru civic body’s plan for outright purchase of land from a private company to set up a waste-processing plant on the outskirts of the city.

The land, measuring 38 acres and 18 guntas, is under the ownership of Terra Firma Biotechnologies Ltd, a private firm whose contract to process waste was terminated nearly a decade ago. 

It will be the first time that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) buys land directly from a private firm for processing garbage. In the past, these facilities were established only on government land. 

The Bengaluru Rural deputy commissioner has been tasked with fixing the compensation for the private land. 

The land parcel, located in Gundalahalli in Doddaballapura taluk, is part of a 134-acre site where the civic body plans to set up an integrated waste-processing facility. The plant is expected to receive about 25% of the city’s waste. 

Of the total land earmarked for the project, the Revenue Department owns about 46 acres, while another 27 acres are classified as kharab land, also under government ownership. Terra Firma owns roughly 38 acres, while another 22 acres belong to farmers who had leased it to the same private company. 

The BBMP’s association with Terra Firma dates back to April 2008, when the civic body agreed to pay a tipping fee of Rs 66 per tonne of waste processed. While Terra Firma had set up a plant with a capacity to process 1,000 tonnes per day, it ceased operations in 2015, five years before the expiry of the contract period, following protests by local villagers. The current deal is seen by some as a financial reprieve for the company, which has been struggling with losses. 

The Doddaballapura land is one of the four proposed locations for new waste-processing facilities under a public-private partnership (PPP) model — an initiative championed by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. The BBMP is still searching for suitable sites in three other directions, each requiring at least 100 acres. 

According to an order by the Urban Development Department, the government has allowed the BBMP to acquire Terra Firma’s land under the 2013 land acquisition Act, provided the company removes all legacy waste — not just from its property, but also from adjoining government land — at its own expense.  Additionally, the BBMP must deduct Rs 6.81 crore, plus 10 years’ interest, from the amount owed to Terra Firma. This is the loan provided by the civic body as part of a 2015 agreement to set up a waste technology park. 

Further conditions include obtaining an undertaking from Terra Firma agreeing to pay for any damage caused by waste dumping on government land. Before disbursing compensation — which will come from BBMP’s internal funds — the civic body is asked to inform the high court, as the matter is currently under litigation. 

However, the government has rejected Terra Firma’s request for Rs 60.99 crore in compensation for losses incurred from the terminated project. It has also declined to purchase the equipment currently at the site. 

A senior BBMP official emphasised the importance of the Doddaballapura site, noting the challenges in finding suitable government land on the city’s outskirts. “We are receiving land from the revenue department free of cost,” the official said, referring to the 46 acres adjacent to the private land.