Dharavi Redevelopment Project: HC allows Seclink to challenge award of contract to Adani Group

The Bombay High Court has allowed Seclink Technology Corporation (STC) to challenge the Maharashtra government's decision to award the Dharavi Redevelopment Project to Adani Group. STC had previously made a successful bid for the project in 2019 but the government issued a fresh tender in 2020. STC is seeking damages of ?10,000 crore ($1.34 billion) and a declaration that they were the successful bidders. The court has scheduled further hearings for August 7.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday allowed United Arab Emirates-based Seclink Technology Corporation (STC) to challenge the recent decision of the state government to award the Dharavi Redevelopment Project to Adani Group.

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The housing department had on July 13 issued a Government Resolution (GR) accepting Adani Group’s investment offer of ₹5,069 crore to redevelop the 259-hectare slum.

The division bench of acting chief justice Nitin M Jamdar and justice Arif S Doctor allowed the amendment to STC’s 2020 petition after its counsel, advocate Bhushan Deshmukh, informed the bench that the petitioner wanted to challenge the government’s order.

In its petition filed in November 2020, SCT, which had made a successful bid of ₹28,572 crore for the project in 2019, had challenged the issuance of a fresh tender in October 2020, seeking a declaration that they were successful bidders and directions to the government to issue a Letter of Award (LoA).

The company had also sought damages to the tune of ₹10,000 crore, stating that the government’s decision to issue a fresh tender was an attempt to keep them out of the bidding process to favour the bidder of their choice.

The government, however, issued a fresh tender by tweaking certain clauses which kept the company out of the bidding process and therefore on November 14, 2022, SCT urged the HC to allow them to amend the petition and include a challenge to the fresh tendering process.

The court had accordingly allowed the company to amend their petition and incorporate a challenge to the GR dated September 28, 2022. The bench had on December 15, 2022, accepted the request and directed the government to reply to the amended portions of the petition.

In February 2019, STC had emerged as the highest bidder to transform India’s largest slum pocket, outbidding Adani Infrastructure and Developers Private Limited. STC had quoted ₹7,200 crore, while Adani Infrastructure and Developers quoted ₹4,539 crore. STC’s problem began when the then Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government decided to use railway land near Dharavi for rehabilitation of slum-dwellers and to acquire it by paying ₹800 crore to the railways.

The government sought the advocate general’s (AG) view as the railway land was an added component to the project and as such it changed the project specifications. Then AG Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had advised that fresh tenders needed to be called for, as the cost of the railway land and rehabilitation was added and not incorporated in the original tender document.

The AG’s opinion was accepted by the Uddhav Thackeray-led government which cancelled the tender and initiated the process of inviting fresh bids. However, the fresh tender was issued only on October 1, 2022 after a resolution to the effect was passed by the chief minister Eknath Shinde-led cabinet on September 28.

The HC has posted STC’s petition for further hearing on August 7.