A major debate has erupted in Karnataka after the state Cabinet approved a \u20b9613.25 crore plan to rent 46 mechanical road-sweeping machines for seven years. The decision, cleared on Thursday, has drawn sharp criticism from the BJP, social media users, and technical committees.<\/p>\n
BJP leaders allege that the numbers \u201cdo not add up,\u201d calling the project a \u2018massive financial scandal\u2019.<\/p>\n
Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje accused the Congress government of inflating costs and questioned who stands to gain.<\/p>\n
She noted that:<\/p>\n
A road-sweeping machine typically costs \u20b950\u201380 lakh,<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Which means 46 machines should cost roughly \u20b937\u201338 crore,<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Even with staff and maintenance, the total \u201cshould not exceed \u20b9100 crore\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u201cYet the government is spending \u20b9613 crores. This raises serious doubts about where the remaining \u20b9500 crores is going,\u201d she said on X, demanding the plan be dropped and full transparency ensured.<\/p>\n
Also Read<\/strong>: Tata Motors PV Shares Crash 6% After Weak Q2, JLR Guidance Cut<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The controversy intensified after citizens took to social media.<\/p>\n One user wrote: Another pointed out that renting a machine for \u20b92 crore per year makes no sense when the machines cost \u20b960\u201370 lakh to buy.<\/p>\n Concerns were also raised about 26 existing machines lying unused, reportedly due to operational and payment issues.<\/p>\n A Deccan Herald report noted that the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) sought approval to rent the machines for seven years, with the entire expenditure to be borne by the five newly created municipal corporations in Bengaluru.<\/p>\n Law Minister HK Patil said the Cabinet opted for rental because purchasing would require heavy initial expenditure.<\/p>\n Initially, GBA had proposed:<\/p>\n 59 machines,<\/p>\n<\/li>\n At a cost of \u20b9781 crore.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n But the Urban Development Department reduced the number to 46, while slightly increasing the per-machine rental cost.<\/p>\n A technical committee led by KUIDFC MD R Selvamani reportedly suggested outright purchase instead of renting.<\/p>\n Consulting firms were brought in for further assessment:<\/p>\n An outright purchase would cost around \u20b93 crore per machine with attachments.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Suggested a hybrid model: 40% upfront + 60% performance-linked,<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Noted that renting is \u20b950 lakh more expensive per machine.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Despite this, the Cabinet chose the rental option.<\/p>\n The city currently has 26 sweeping machines, but reports say their output has been poor, prompting the demand for additional units.<\/p>\n Click here to explore A major debate has erupted in Karnataka after the state Cabinet approved a \u20b9613.25 crore plan to rent 46 mechanical road-sweeping machines for seven years. The decision, cleared on Thursday, has drawn sharp criticism from the BJP, social media users, and technical committees. BJP leaders allege that the numbers \u201cdo not add up,\u201d calling the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1362],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1383],"class_list":{"0":"post-17538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-finance-and-economy-news"}," _eael_post_view_count":0,"authors":[{"term_id":1383,"user_id":6,"is_guest":0,"slug":"pradeep","display_name":"Pradeep Sangatramani","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/trending.niftytrader.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pradeep-Sangatramni.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/trending.niftytrader.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pradeep-Sangatramni.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17540,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17538\/revisions\/17540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17538"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=17538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Public Questions Cost Logic: \u2018Math Isn\u2019t Mathing\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u201cRent 46 sweeping machines at \u20b91 crore per year for 7 years \u2014 how does that add up to \u20b9613 crores?\u201d<\/p>\nWhat the Government Says: High Upfront Cost Is the Key Factor?<\/h2>\n
\n
Expert Committees Recommended Buying, Not Renting<\/h2>\n
BCG\u2019s findings:<\/h3>\n
\n
Bengaluru\u2019s Current Capacity Remains Low<\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong><\/em>Gift Nifty<\/a>
\nFII DII Data<\/a>
\nIPO<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"