Mumbai: Shiv Sena Promises to Scrap Adani’s Dharavi Project Tender, Cites Concerns Over Resident Welfare

Mumbai, 20th July 2024: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray announced on Saturday that his party will cancel the tender awarded to Gautam Adani’s company for the Dharavi slum redevelopment project if they come to power in Maharashtra.

At a press conference, Thackeray criticized the current redevelopment plan, pledging that his party will ensure Dharavi’s residents and businesses are preserved. He emphasized that locals should be provided with 500-square-foot homes within the area.

“We will annul the Dharavi redevelopment project tender once we assume power. The government needs to explain why it shouldn’t be scrapped immediately. We refuse to let Mumbai be transformed into an Adani city,” Thackeray stated.

He accused the government of offering additional, unspecified benefits to the Adani Group for the redevelopment of Dharavi, which he described as one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world.

“No extra concessions will be granted under our watch. We will prioritize the interests of Dharavi’s residents and will issue a new tender if necessary,” Thackeray added.

Thackeray also criticized the government’s recent schemes, questioning if it was planning to introduce a new program similar to the ‘Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana,’ which provides a modest monthly stipend to women.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress made the Dharavi redevelopment project a key issue in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Anil Desai won a decisive victory over the sitting MP Rahul Shewale in the Dharavi assembly segment, securing a lead of 36,857 votes and eventually defeating Shewale by 53,384 votes.

Thackeray alleged that the government is attempting to manipulate the relocation process by issuing numbers to homes, creating eligibility issues for residents. He also criticized the government’s strategy of acquiring 20 plots of land in the city for infrastructure development, warning that this could strain existing resources and create imbalances in the city.

The Dharavi redevelopment project, estimated to have a revenue potential of Rs 20,000 crore, aims to reconstruct the extensive slum area in central Mumbai near the BKC business district. The tender was awarded to Adani Properties in November 2022 following a competitive bidding process that included DLF and Naman Developers.