Karnataka Cabinet clears ₹613 crore plan to rent 46 road-sweeping machines for Bengaluru

Move aims to tackle dust pollution and improve road cleanliness across Bengaluru’s five new municipal corporations.

In a major push to improve Bengaluru’s road cleanliness and reduce dust pollution, the Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to rent 46 mechanical sweeping machines for a period of seven years. The total cost of the project is ₹613.25 crore, meaning each machine will cost the administration roughly ₹1 crore per year.

The proposal was submitted by the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and has received full administrative approval, Law Minister H.K. Patil told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. The expenditure will be entirely borne by Bengaluru’s five newly formed municipal corporations, and the machines will be deployed across their limits to strengthen road maintenance.

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Originally, the GBA had proposed 59 sweeping machines at a cost of ₹781 crore, also on a rental basis. However, the Urban Development Department (UDD) reduced the number to 46, while increasing the cost per machine by ₹10 lakh before presenting it to the Cabinet.

The decision follows months of internal review. Discussions within the GBA began in April on whether to buy the machines outright or rent them. A high-level technical committee, headed by R Selvamani, Managing Director of the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), was formed. Two consulting firms were then brought in for a detailed assessment.

Later, GBA created an in-house committee and sought evaluations from RITES Ltd. and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). BCG suggested making a 40% upfront payment and paying the remaining amount based on performance per kilometre, while also calculating the cost of renting, found to be around ₹50 lakh more per vehicle.

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Despite this, the Cabinet approved the rental model, stating that purchasing the machines would require a huge initial investment that the corporations cannot afford now.

Currently, Bengaluru has 26 sweeping machines, but their performance has frequently been criticised. Commuters continue to complain about dusty roads, poor machine efficiency, and worsening air quality.