Cong asks Maharashtra govt to revoke deal with RBI for south Mumbai plot, threatens to move court

Mumbai, Sep 13 (PTI) The Congress on Saturday demanded that the Maharashtra government cancel the sale of a south Mumbai plot, which earlier housed offices of political parties, to the RBI and threatened to move court if it was not revoked.

Calling the decision “arbitrary”, Congress senior spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the land deal also amounted to “cheating” political parties and reneging on past assurances.

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) on September 5 executed a sale deed for the transfer of a 16,842-sqmt (about 4.1 acres) plot at Nariman Point to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for Rs 3,471.82 crore, aimed at funding the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 corridor.

The Maharashtra government had allocated the land to MMRC to help raise Rs 1,000 crore from real estate sources, as mandated by the Centre for the Metro-3 capital works.

“The then government and Metro authorities had assured us that once the project was complete, new office premises would be constructed for all parties at the same location. However, without any consultation, the land has now been sold to RBI for Rs 3,400 crore,” said Sawant.

Claiming that the market value of the land is around Rs 5,200 crore, he said the deal has caused a loss of nearly Rs 1,800 crore to the state exchequer.

“This deal is a show of arrogance, arbitrary and fraudulent. It must be scrapped and the Congress party must be allotted its office at the same Nariman Point location, failing which we will approach the court,” he added.

Citing a government order of October 21, 2015, and a letter issued by then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in December 2016 assuring temporary relocation, Sawant accused the state and MMRC of reneging on their promise.

“Even the RBI has been misled, as the corporation did not inform it about the earlier assurances,” he alleged.

Maharashtra Congress vice president Ganesh Patil said the party has written to the government and MMRC, warning of legal action if the assurance is not honoured.

Two phases of the 33-km Metro-3 ‘Aqua line’ (Aarey Colony JVLR-BKC and BKC-Acharya Atre Chowk) are already operational, and the final phase, between Acharya Atre Chowk in Worli and Cuffe Parade in south Mumbai, is expected to be completed soon. PTI MR NR