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The performance of public–private partnership (PPP) projects depends on how the project has been structured. The traditional PPP option analysis for structuring project scope and size relating to the bundling of functions concerning a single component of the value chain will need to be extended to handle multi-component sectors such as municipal solid waste (MSW) in formulating the project scope. This analysis is currently missing in the extant literature. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Through a comprehensive literature review as the methodological backbone, this study develops a testable holistic framework for the procurement of MSW PPP projects that examines how various factors of bundling affect the performance of the PPP projects.

Using transaction cost economics, agency and auction theories, the review identifies that innovation, maturity, quality specifiability, scope, competition, information asymmetries and transaction attributes have a significant influence on the performance and success of the PPP projects.

Alternative supply chain management possibilities and firm-level organisational ways can be predicted using this framework to strategize the solutions for the municipal infrastructure. Based on this contribution, future research can test the framework to increase the knowledge of bundling theory about how to structure network infrastructure PPP projects.

Studies on how to bundle/unbundle the projects having components of the value chain are in a nascent stage. The present study attempts to extend the body of knowledge on PPP to the complexity of bundling both the functions and components of the value chain in structuring the PPP project scope.

Effective maintenance of rural roads is an essential aspect of public infrastructure delivery. However, governments failed to upkeep the built infrastructure. Accordingly, this study addresses this pressing issue by identifying attributes, skills and resources for asset maintenance. To do this, collaborative governance, a recent plausible alternative in the public policy literature, is used.

The literature review proffered 29 strategies for operationalising collaborative governance principles. A questionnaire survey with the public sector representatives comprising top-level, mid-level and lower-level engineers was used to test the applicability of these strategies in rural infrastructure maintenance of India. The rated responses concerning strategies were subjected to exploratory factor analysis to determine the underlying structure for reducing the dimensions to make them practically operational.

The exploratory factor analysis showed that six dimensions play an essential role in initiating and promoting collaboration. This parsimonious framework suggests building a common collaborative framework, communicating vision and fostering communities, leadership, increasing the industry's capacity, transparency of power and responsibilities, and technical and financial resources. Thus, governments’ initiatives to build collaboration is most prominent in initiating and sustaining a successful collaboration.

The practical strategies reinforced through this study can formalise self-initiated regimes or independently convened regimes to a federally directed regime well within the scope of the national programmes. Thus, findings primarily have considerable implications to emerging countries where reducing the unit costs to save the public exchequer from wastage and preventing assets from becoming dilapidate are essential.

Public sector practitioners often lack the essential skills and innovative thinking and thus offered new knowledge would transform the traditional practices in infrastructure maintenance. Theoretically, the present research advances the understanding of structures and processes for collaborative governance theory to non-contractual infrastructure asset management literature.

The effect of the chosen procurement model on the contractual performance is an important but less researched area in governance literature. Therefore, the aim is to study the ramifications of procurement options on the contractual hazards emanating due to information asymmetry.

Four Indian MSW case studies provided the necessary evidence for the present study. Cross case analysis was conducted from the perspectives of information asymmetry, contract management skills of urban local bodies (ULBs), and uncertainty.

The findings suggest that bundling of MSW supply chain would increase the uncertainty of the project, and that contract management skills have a detrimental effect but more in a bundled project. Accordingly, occurrences of information asymmetry and related contractual hazards are more in bundled projects.

The present understanding of the ULBs is not realistic enough to consider the full complexity of the strategic interactions between agents who are privately informed in an ill-developed institutional setting of the MSW sector. The current study will help untangle these complexities in keeping with the procurement model. Thereby the ULBs can focus on the steps required to address the residual uncertainties.

Limitations concerning generalizability of the findings to other projects, sectors, and geographical settings apply to this study.

This study provides significant practical directions on the sources of information asymmetry and its relation to the chosen procurement model, which is ignored thus far by the researchers and practitioners.

The Low carbon (LC) agenda has captured interest across governments and research communities. But such focus is not addressed so far in the operation of municipal solid waste (MSW) infrastructure in India. The purpose of this paper is to draw focus on the promotion of low carbon infrastructure by improving the procurement process of the public–private partnership (PPP) approach.

The current study employed a case study methodology. This paper develops and validates a “five-fold framework,” comprising of selection, financial, operational, standards and targets measures, for integrating LC principles in the procurement of infrastructure projects.

The public sector fails to understand the importance of the need to incorporate climate change mitigation strategies due to poor procurement competencies. With respect to the operationalization of the framework, funding of viability gap in operations instead of construction, allowing renegotiation clauses to cater possible future LC technological improvements and incorporating emission reduction targets at the local and national levels were highlighted.

LC principles presented in this paper are not exhaustive and are verified using a single Indian PPP case. Future research endeavor can focus on the relevancy and operationalization of these principles using a more elaborate set of indicators and extend the study to other sectors and countries.

This paper seeks to act as guidelines for governments on how to create and improve LC MSW PPP infrastructure projects to facilitate simultaneous achievement of both climate change mitigation and infrastructure delivery goals. The current study could add value to the current emphasis on LC transitions by policymakers, government agencies and regulators.

The most recent advent of the unsolicited proposal in the public private partnership mode of infrastructure procurement has changed the duties and roles of private and public sector agencies. Also, they have increased the practitioners' difficulties to work out strategic mechanisms and methods to manage these unsolicited proposals (USP) effectively. So, this study aims to understand how well equipped are the Indian USP guidelines for managing procurement.

Content analysis with coding procedures was carried to understand the regulations of USP frameworks of India over the four stages of USP procurement.

The findings show that there are severe flaws in various states' frameworks. The states have flaws in their policies in implementation features across the stages of USP such as defined objectives, the absence of fees and review timeframes in the submission, time frame and guidance on benchmarking and market testing in evaluation and development, time frame for bidding and access to information in procurement stages.

The USP implementation framework developed as part of this study can direct the policymakers and practitioners to improve public procurement regulations and the necessary changes for the successful implementation of USPs. In doing this, the private sector is enabled to develop more competitive and innovative proposals.

Bundled mode of public–private partnership (PPP) procurement has been a widely advocated governance structure of infrastructure delivery. The purpose of this paper is to identify the various aspects of how this bundling phenomenon has to be played out in practice and examines the implications of such decisions.

A longitudinal case study with an Indian municipal solid waste (MSW) PPP project provides the necessary evidence on the identification of constructs which are deemed important in the decision making of bundling in PPP MSW projects. Transaction cost economics theory, agency theory and auction theory informed the development of theoretical constructs. The longitudinal case study used interviews, observations and documents analysis.

This study has highlighted the complexity inherent in bundling decision, arising out of the relatively scanty rationale by which stakeholders first developed. Not only they are very different from the practice, but also many assumptions are proved otherwise. Poor sectoral developments, hindrances arguably caused to innovation, increase in transaction cost and a decrease in the competition along with ex post characteristics such as unfavourable transaction attributes made bundling a too early proposition to Guwahati MSW project. This study suggests that strong liability of the bundling phenomenon was the above the rationale of typical PPP bundling benefits envisaged in the extant literature. It also shows that poor practice and decision making by immature clients would lead to project failure.

A cognitive map emerged from the study on the failure of Guwahati project. An empirical generalisation can be attempted using multiple contrasting case studies to make the theory more acceptable.

The case illustrated why naïve clients should not try PPPs in a bundled model. Accordingly, the developed framework would help the governments to create the right projects catalysing the bundling benefits and harness the full potential of private sector participation in future PPP projects.

The current study would be novel in advancing the theory of bundling in PPP projects. This would be of interest to academia and to industrial practice and policy.