Shobha Karandlaje smells a scam in GBA's Rs 613-crore plan to rent 46 sweeping machines for Bengaluru

The BJP MP alleges that an 'inflated expenditure' has been approved by the State Cabinet

Minister of State for Labour and Employment and Bengaluru North MP Shobha Karandlaje suspects a scam in the proposal to procure 46 mechanical sweeping machines for the city on rent for a period of seven years at Rs 613.25 crore.

The proposal, submitted by the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), has been approved by the Karnataka Cabinet.

In a post in X, the BJP MP said, "A massive financial scandal is unfolding in Karnataka. The Congress government has hired 46 road sweeping machines for 7 years at a shocking cost of ₹613 crore".

According to the GBA proposal approved by the Cabinet, the authority is expected to spend almost Rs 2 crore a year on each sweeper machine.

Alleging that an "inflated expenditure" has been approved, Karandlaje wondered who was benefiting from it.

"A self-propelled road sweeper costs about ₹50 to 80 lakhs, which means 46 machines would come to roughly ₹37 crores to 38 crores. Even if the municipality pays salaries for 46 drivers and 100 helpers for 7 years, the total would still be only around ₹60 to 70 crores. Even after adding machines, manpower and maintenance, the entire cost should not exceed ₹100 crores. Yet the government is spending ₹613 crores. This raises serious doubts about where the remaining ₹500 crores is going and who is benefiting from this inflated expenditure."

Karandlaje has urged the government "to drop the proposal immediately and ensure full transparency for the people of Karnataka".

Law Minister H K Patil had said the Cabinet had given administrative approval to the proposal which would entirely be funded by the five newly created municipal corporations of Bengaluru. He added that the 46 machines would be distributed across all corporations to help keep the roads clean.

Initially, the GBA had proposed procuring 59 sweeping machines at a cost of Rs 781 crore on a rental basis. The Urban Development Department, however, trimmed the number of vehicles to 46, but marginally increased the cost of each vehicle by Rs 10 lakh before presenting the proposal to the Cabinet.