High Court Rejects UAE Firm’s Plea, Adani Wins Dharavi Tender

Bombay High Court Dismisses UAE Firm’s Plea, Adani Wins Dharavi Redevelopment Project

The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a plea by UAE-based infrastructure firm Seclink Technology Corporation (STC) challenging the award of the Rs 5,000 crore Dharavi redevelopment project to the Adani Group.

The tender was initially awarded to STC in 2019 but was later cancelled by the Maharashtra government, which awarded a fresh tender in 2020. The second tender was won by the Adani Group.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Porkar upheld the Maharashtra government’s decision to award the project to Adani, saying that STC’s plea lacked merit and substance.

“The challenge raised against the government’s action of cancelling the tender and awarding a fresh tender fails,” the court said.

In 2019, the Rs. STC won the bid for the Dharavi redevelopment project with a bid of Rs 7,200 crore, beating Adani Infrastructure’s bid of Rs 4,539 crore.

However, in 2020, the then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led government decided to annex railway land for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers. The government has also approved Rs 800 crore for the acquisition of 45 acres of land from the railways.

Following this addition of additional land, the government decided to float a fresh tender as the cost of land acquisition was not included in the original tender. As a result, fresh bids were invited in October 2022.

However, this time, STC could not participate in the fresh tender due to certain restrictions in the new tender conditions. As a result, only Adani Group bid and ultimately won the project through a government resolution dated July 13, 2023.

STC said the reasons cited by the government for cancelling the original tender were completely baseless. According to the company, the railway land intended for rehabilitation was already included in an earlier auction held in 2019. The tender documents included a map showing nearly 90 acres of railway land as part of the land available for the project, the company argued.

The STC, led by Nilang Shah and backed by the UAE royal family, has alleged that the government is favouring the Adani Group by effectively handing over the Dharavi land to the joint venture.

The Dharavi-Adani project was a major bone of contention between the Maha Vikas Aghadi and the Mahayuti alliance during the recent parliamentary and assembly elections.