July 15th 2023.
The redevelopment of Dharavi, a large slum in Mumbai, has become an explosive issue with the Congress on Saturday targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Maharashtra government on Friday formally awarded the more than Rs5,000-crore project to the Gautam Adani Group.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, a close associate of Rahul Gandhi, alleged that state governments controlled by the BJP “have been reduced to ATM machines for his cronies”. The project is likely to become a prime issue for the upcoming BMC elections for which the process has already commenced.
Jairam Ramesh said deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ last act before handing over the housing department on Friday following the allocation of portfolios was to formally approve the Adani Group’s “takeover” of the Rs5,069 crore Dharavi redevelopment project, which involves 600 acres of prime Mumbai land. He also alleged that the government has favoured the Adanis despite objections raised by officers of the urban development department.
He said that the project had originally been awarded to a different bidder and accused the government of performing “amazing acrobatics” to change the tender conditions to ensure that PM Modi's closest friend was the only feasible winner. This included raising the minimum net worth needed to win the bid from Rs10,000 crore to Rs20,000 crore to exclude the previous winner and to allow payment in instalments that eased the path for the cash-strapped Adani Group.
The Adanis have already taken over the city airport and the Dharavi project will give it greater presence in the metropolis. Adani will partner with the government in the project, according to a notification. The SPV will have a Rs500 crore corpus. The state government will contribute Rs100 crore and the rest will be with Adani Properties. What is significant is that the project will generate transfer of development rights worth thousands of crores, which can be used in other areas of the metropolis.
The allegations made by Jairam Ramesh have stirred up a controversy in the city and given the upcoming BMC elections, the Dharavi redevelopment project is likely to become a prime issue. It is yet to be seen how the BJP-led government responds to the accusations and how it will affect the elections.
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