Winning Bizness Desk
Mumbai. Defending its decision to award a new tender for Dharavi slum redevelopment to Adani Group, the Maharashtra govt has told High Court that the decision is correct, transparent and rational. It also said that the new tender has been done according to the process conditions. Notably, the Adani Group, which has received the contract, will have to spend Rs 2800 crore for the Railway Land Development Authority. Apart from this, the cost of construction of railway service accommodation on 84 thousand square meters will also have to be borne. Also, the ineligible slum dwellers in the project are to be constructed affordable houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana within ten km of the Dharavi notified area. However, the state government has mentioned in its affidavit that the condition of providing houses to the ineligible slum dwellers was not included in the previous tender process.
What exactly is the case?
The decision to award the Dharavi redevelopment project to the Adani Group has been challenged in the Bombay High Court by Saudi Arabia's Seclink Technology Corporation. A 24-page detailed affidavit was recently submitted to the High Court on behalf of the state government. Accordingly, the earlier tender process was canceled in view of the changed circumstances and expert advice. Claiming that the petitioner company has misled the court by not providing complete information about the new tender, the state government has also requested the High Court to dismiss this frivolous petition with penalty.
What is the state government's claim?
Canceling the first tender process of 2018 was a strategic decision in the Cabinet meeting. Therefore, the claim of the petitioners that they were the highest bidders in the first tender process is invalid. Later on, the terms and conditions of the new tender process were decided by consulting and discussing the opinions of experts. The company that got the contract for urban renewal and slum resale under Dharavi notified area is bound to take no objection from government land owners and this condition was included in the first process as well. The provisions of the 2034 Development Control Promotion Rules relating to Dharavi being a notified area were applicable to any company that qualified for the contract. 80 percent of the cost of the project will be borne by the company selected in the tender process, while 20 percent of the cost will be borne by the slum authority. Therefore, the allegation of the petitioner regarding loss to the exchequer is also baseless. The state government has also clarified that the bid amount placed in this new tender process is more than the amount in the previous process.
New tender process involves everything
The state government has said in this affidavit that the conditions of the tender process have been prepared by the experts keeping in view the requirements of the overall project, the public interest and the nature of the project and the claim that they have been made to exclude anyone is baseless. The petitioners in person fail to plead and are not entitled to seek any interim relief. Therefore, the state government through this affidavit has demanded that the said petition be dismissed as it is causing delay in the public project of Dharavi redevelopment. It is expected to be heard in the High Court soon.
