MUMBAI: Adani Group has emerged as the highest bidder for the 259-hectare Dharavi redevelopment project, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The group has bid Rs 5,069 crore for the redevelopment of one of the world’s largest slums, beating DLF, which had quoted Rs 2,025 crore, the project’s chief executive officer SVR Srinivas said.
“We will now send the details to the government, which will consider and give final approval,” he told PTI, adding that the Eknath Shinde government would approve it in a few weeks.
The tender is for the entire project at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore and the total schedule for the project is seven years to rehabilitate 6.5 lakh slum dwellers spread over an area of 2.5 sq km at present, he said.
The project, which will help the winning bidder register high revenue through the sale of thousands of square feet of residential and commercial space in central Mumbai, has been in limbo for many years due to its complexity.
Eight bidders, including organizations from South Korea and the UAE, attended a preliminary meeting held in October, and three of them actually bid for the project. Naman Group, a city-based developer, was the third whose bid did not meet the requirements.
The government has asked for a minimum consolidated net worth of Rs 20,000 crore to select the winning bid and is likely to assess both technical and financial feasibility before awarding the project to the highest bidder.
The winning bidder is required to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to implement the project and the phased schedule of investment has also been set by the government. The entrepreneur has to take care of the rehabilitation, renovation, amenities and infrastructural components.
Adani already has a real estate arm in the country that has already executed or is in the process of executing projects in the financial capital, including one in suburban Ghatkopar and another in Byculla in central Mumbai.