Adani Group capable of completing 'Dharavi Redevelopment Project': Sanjay Nirupam

Mumbai, Dec 22 (IANS) Former Rajya Sabha member and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam on Sunday said that the Bombay High Court's decision on the Adani Group on the 'Dharavi Redevelopment Project' is a slap on the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), asserting that the Adani Group has the capability of completing the work related to the project. 

Nirupam's reaction came two days after the Bombay High Court upheld the decision of the Maharashtra government to award the tender to the Adani Group for the 'Dharavi Redevelopment Project' in Mumbai, saying there was nothing unfair or irregular in the decision.

In an interaction with IANS on Sunday, Nirupam said: "The High Court's decision is a tight slap on the Congress and the Shiv Sena-UBT. Both parties kept making accusations, claiming that there were irregularities in the government's decision and blamed it for favouritism while handing the project to the Adani Group. However, the High Court's decision makes it clear that nothing is illegal and there are no irregularities."

Further slamming the Congress and the Shiv Sena-UBT, Nirupam said that the two parties need to understand that Dharavi is a key residential area of Mumbai.

"In Dharavi, there are thousands of shanties and people are compelled to live a poor standard of life. An effort is being made to provide them with a better quality of life," Nirupam said.

He said that though plans to redevelop Dharavi have been in the pipeline for years, no government could successfully undertake the project.

"Adani Group has shown interest in the redevelopment project, and it has the strength and capacity to complete the project," Nirupam said, adding that Congress and Shiv Sena-UBT should now back off their stances and the redevelopment project has to be completed so that people residing in Dharavi can get a good life.

Citing weak grounds for a challenge, the Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a petition against the Maharashtra government’s decision on the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in Mumbai and upheld the tender awarded to Adani Properties Private Limited.

A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar dismissed the petition filed by UAE-based Seclink Technologies Corporation, saying: "The grounds raised in the petition lack force and effort. The challenge to the government's action of cancelling the earlier tender and issuing a fresh tender award fails."

The Adani Group had emerged as the highest bidder for the 259-hectare Dharavi Redevelopment Project and bagged it with its Rs 5,069-crore offer in the 2022 tender process.

In the first tender issued in 2018, the petitioner company emerged as the highest bidder with its Rs 7,200-crore offer.

The Eknath Shinde government had cancelled the 2018 tender and issued a fresh one in 2022 with additional conditions. The state government decided to include 45 acres of railway land in the project for slum rehabilitation, an element not included in the original proposal.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had recommended that the state government issue a new tender to reflect the changes and incorporate factors like the costs of acquiring this land.

The state government had opposed the petitioner’s claim and maintained that the revised tender conditions were not arbitrary but were important for ensuring that the development was financially viable.

Referring to the changed economic landscape between 2019 and 2022, the state government justified its decision to cancel the 2018 tender and issue a fresh one in 2022.

--IANS

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