Minister orders CIDCO to pay the rent for office in pvt tower

Misal, a four-time BJP MLA from Parvati assembly constituency in Pune city, is a first-time minister. She became a junior minister in December 2024 in the Mahayuti government under Devendra Fadnavis, and was given a bunch of portfolios such as urban development, social justice, transport, minority development and medical education

MUMBAI: While ministers have often been criticised for using public money to renovate their offices and bungalows, Madhuri Misal is a tad different. The minister of state for urban development, unwilling to run her office from the state secretariat, Mantralaya, is all set to work from a rented space in a private building at Nariman Point. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which comes under the administrative control of her department, will bear the rental expenditure of over ₹3.5 lakh per month.

Minister orders CIDCO to pay the rent for office in pvt tower

Misal, a four-time BJP MLA from Parvati assembly constituency in Pune city, is a first-time minister. She became a junior minister in December 2024 in the Mahayuti government under Devendra Fadnavis, and was given a bunch of portfolios such as urban development, social justice, transport, minority development and medical education.

All the ministers and ministers of state (MoS) have been given offices in Mantralaya as per the routine practice, and they are expected to work from there. Misal was also allotted an office on the first floor of the Mantralaya annexe building. However, she complained that it was too small for her and asked CIDCO—which comes under the urban development department—to provide an office at Nariman Point and look after the expenses. Accordingly CIDCO, in the second week of March 2025, approved the proposal to pay the rent for her office.

Misal’s letter to the managing director of CIDCO on February 7 states: “I have been allotted an office in Mantralaya but it is too small for me, as I have to look after official work, legislative work during the legislature sessions and also take briefings from officials of various departments. So provide me an office of around 2,000 square feet at Nirmal Bhavan or any other building at Nariman Point. CIDCO should look after the rent agreement with the owner of the place and complete the process immediately.” Hindustan Times has a copy of the letter.

An official from CIDCO confirmed that the letter was given to the CIDCO MD, and said that Misal’s demand was approved in a meeting of the CIDCO board held in the second week of March. “An office in Mittal Tower has been selected and we are about to complete the agreement process,” he said. “The rent is over ₹3.5 lakh per month.”

When asked why CIDCO, which is a separate corporation, was taking on the state government’s responsibility of paying rent for a minister’s office, the official declined to comment. On the question of why Misal was not given an office in Nirmal Bhavan where CIDCO already has office space, the official said that all offices there were already allotted.

Significantly, in the past, ministers were always given offices in the new administrative building opposite Mantralaya or even in Vidhan Bhavan till arrangements were made in Mantralaya.

An official from Misal’s office said that she wrote to CIDCO, as the chamber allotted in Mantralaya was small and being repaired. “Chamber No 138 is not adequate, as the minister has the responsibility of several departments,” he said. “As she is the MoS for the urban development department, CIDCO can do this. We will shift to the new office once CIDCO completes all the formalities. Once we get a proper office in Mantralaya, we will leave the place in Mittal Tower.”

Calls and messages to Madhuri Misal and Vijay Singhal, the MD of CIDCO, went unanswered.