Dharavi redevelopment: Win for Adani as Bombay High Court rejects UAE firm's plea against fresh tender

The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by UAE-based Seclink Technologies challenging the Maharashtra government's decision to cancel its 2019 bid for the redevelopment of Dharavi slums and issue a fresh tender in 2022. .This decision ultimately led to the project being awarded to Adani Properties.A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar upheld the State decision. The Court had earlier reserved its order on August 8 after hearing both the parties.Seclink moved the Court to reverse the government's decision, which had annulled its winning bid of ₹7,200 crore and had come up with a new bidding process in 2022 that ultimately saw Adani Infrastructure and Developers Pvt. Ltd. being awarded the contract.Seclink had originally won the bid for the Dharavi redevelopment project in 2019, surpassing Adani's bid of ₹4,539 crore. However, in 2022, the Eknath Shinde-led government decided to include 45 acres of railway land in the project for slum rehabilitation, a move not included in the original proposal.To accommodate the costs of acquiring this land, the state sought legal advice, with then Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni recommending a new tender to reflect the changes. Consequently, the Maharashtra government canceled the 2019 tender and launched a fresh bidding process in 2022..Seclink argued that the inclusion of railway land had already been accounted for in the original 2019 tender, as the bid map included nearly 90 acres of railway land. The company claimed that the government's rationale for canceling the bid was unfounded and that the new tender terms were designed to exclude them and benefit Adani. Seclink further stated that it suffered a financial loss of ₹8,424 crore due to the cancellation of its bid..The State government defended its actions, stating that the revised conditions were not arbitrary but had been developed after careful consideration of the changed economic landscape. It emphasized that the financial and economic conditions had shifted significantly between 2019 and 2022, influenced by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, fluctuations in the Rupee-USD exchange rate, interest rate volatility, and an overall high-risk investor environment. The State argued that these changes necessitated adjustments to the project's terms, ensuring the development was financially viable and aligned with the larger public interest..Senior Advocate Virendra Tulzapurkar with advocates Mandar Soman, Suraj Iyer, Jenil Shah, Devendra Ailawadi, Mani Thevar, Anuj Singhand Abhishek Karnik instructed by Ganesh and Co appeared for the petitioner.Senior Advocate Milind Sathe with Additional Government Pleaders Jyoti Chavan, Atul Vanarse and advocates Bhushan Deshmukh, Aditya Mhase appeared for the State.Senior Advocate Ravindra Kadam with Senior Advocates Vikram Nankani, Zal Andhyarujina and advocates Rohan Kadam, Karan Bhide, Rati Patni, Kathleen Lobo, Vikrant Dere instructed by Wadia Ghandy & Co appeared for Adani Properties.