30 August,2023 03:24 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Jairam Ramesh. File Pic
The Congress took a swipe at the Maharashtra government on Wednesday over the Dharavi slum redevelopment project, alleging that it was left with no choice but to defend its "brazenly questionable decision-making" to help the Adani Group take control of a prize real estate asset in Mumbai, reported the PTI.
According to the PTI, the opposition party's attack came after the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court that the new tender issued in 2022 for the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in Mumbai was transparent and no undue favour was shown to the highest bidder -- the Adani Group.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also took a swipe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, saying it is noteworthy that he "handed Dharavi over to Adani" on his last day as housing minister, but it was another matter that this "favour hasn't yet paid off for the perpetual CM-in-waiting", as per the PTI
"Having executed the PM's orders and delivered the Dharavi slum development project to his most favoured businessman, the Maharashtra government is left with no choice but to defend its brazenly questionable decision-making and contortions to help the Adani Group take control of a prize real estate asset in the heart of India's commercial capital, Mumbai," Jairam Ramesh said, according to the PTI.
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The original Dharavi tender, which a Dubai-based firm had won with a bid of Rs 7,200 crore, was cancelled in 2020 because of issues related to the transfer of railway land, Jairam Ramesh said, the news agency reported.
But the conditions of the 2022 tender issued by the BJP-led state government were designed to help the Adani Group, which had come off second-best in the original tender, and exclude the original winner, the Congress leader alleged.
"This included a doubling of the net worth of bidders to Rs 20,000 crore and permitted the winner to pay in installments rather than as a one-time payment as originally specified, which helped the cash-strapped Adani Group win with a bid of Rs 5,069 crore, ie Rs 2,131 crore less compared to the original winning bid," Ramesh alleged, according to the PTI.
Not only that, railway land worth at least Rs 1,000 crore is being acquired by the government and "passed over to Adani on a platter", he claimed, as per the PTI.
Furthermore, the rehabilitation cost for the railway staff and slum-dwellers will also be borne by the government, Ramesh said, the PTI reported.
"These extraordinary concessions given to the PM's closest friend is a shining example of 'Modani Hai to Mumkin Hai'," the Congress general secretary added, the news agency reported on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the Maharashtra government submitted its affidavit in response to a petition filed in the high court by the UAE-based Seclink Technologies Corporation, challenging the government's decision to award the project to Adani Properties Private Limited.
The Adani Group, led by industrialist Gautam Adani, had emerged as the highest bidder for the 259-hectare Dharavi Redevelopment Project and bagged it with its Rs 5,069-crore bid in the 2022 tender process.
In the first tender issued in 2018, the petitioner company had emerged as the highest bidder with its Rs 7,200-crore bid.
The state government's decision to cancel the 2018 tender and issue a fresh tender in 2022 with additional conditions was challenged in the high court by the United Arab Emirates-based firm.
(with PTI inputs)
