Opposition parties led thousands of protesters marched towards billionaire Gautam Adani’s offices in Mumbai on Saturday to voice their opposition to his conglomerate’s $614 million redevelopment plans for Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest slums in the city.
“We are not against development, but the way the Dharavi redevelopment is planned it will only benefit Adani and not the slum residents,” Baburao Mane, leader of Save Dharavi Committee (Dharavi Bachao Andolan), said.
Adani Denies any “Wrongdoing” amidst Opposition Protests
Adani Group on Saturday said the Dharavi slum Redevelopment Project was awarded to it by the previous Congress-Shiv Sena coalition government (Maha Vikas Aghadi or MVA) through a fair and open international bidding.
In a statement, a spokesperson of Adani’s Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (DRPPL) said financial conditions, including the obligations and incentives, were known to all bidders and had not changed for the awardee.
This came on a day when Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) took a street march from Dharavi to Adani’s office in Mumbai to protest Maharashtra government’s allegedly favouring the conglomerate.
“The Dharavi project was awarded to the Adani Group through a fair, open, internationally competitive bidding process,” the statement said.
“It is important to note that the tender conditions were finalised during the tenure of the MVA government, which demitted office at the end of June 2022. The finalised conditions, including the obligations and incentives, which were known to all the bidders, have not been changed for the awardee post the tendering process. Hence, it is wrong to claim that any special benefits have been given to the awardee.”
Redevelopment of Dharavi aims at converting the world’s largest slum into a modern city hub and resettling its 1 million residents. The statement managed to express discomfort from Adani’s end. It said that it is an unfortunate thing that such a positive news is being taken as a ‘disseminate’ news.
As per the tender conditions, even ineligible tenement holders will be provided accommodation under the Rental Housing Policy. The tender provisions also ensure that eligible residential tenements will receive 17% more area than other SRA projects in Mumbai.
Further, the generation and usage of TDR are as per the tender conditions and fully compliant with the relevant laws. The Dharavi Redevelopment Project in Mumbai will not impact the resettlement of Dharavikars, and the Transferable Development Rights (TDR) will be managed transparently through a portal created by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and the Maharashtra government.
The statement said that the Adani Infra Group is taking on serious challenges whilst reforming the entire slum. Challenges such as hygiene, healthcare, employment opportunities, education and other essential necessities were being taken on with great pride and are committed to provide this.
What was Adani’s main Objective with Asia’s largest slum?
Gautam Adani, who controls the port-to-power conglomerate, intends to turn Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest slums, that sits in the heart of Mumbai, into a modern city hub while acknowledging that resettling its 1 million residents will be a challenging task.
The redevelopment of Dharavi was first mooted in the 1980s as a way to develop valuable land while providing proper housing to those living there.
Dharavi’s growth coincides with migration into the city, now known as Mumbai, for work and trade. In late 1800s, potters, leather tanners, artisans and embroidery workers started trade and business in this region. Slum dwellers squatted on these lands and built huts in a haphazard manner.
In order to improve living conditions of the slum dweller living in the urban slums, in 1971 Maharashtra government passed a law to providing them with taps, toilets and electrical connections. In 2004 Maharashtra government appointed Slum Rehabilitation Authority and approved redevelopment of Dharavi.
After Adani group won the right to redevelop the area, Gautam Adani said he intends to “transform Dharavi into a modern city hub,” by supporting small industries and promoting new jobs focused on young people and women.
“The redevelopment is likely to be through a combination of training centres as well as setting up data, research and development centres”, Bloomberg reported quoting Adani. The billionaire added that he plans to create an organised marketplace in line with India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce.
Under the redevelopment plan, “only those who lived in Dharavi before 2000, mostly ground-floor residents, were eligible for getting free homes”, reported Reuters. About 700,000 inhabitants of mezzanine and upper floors were considered ineligible by the government, and will be offered units up to 10 kilometres away, which they say could require them to pay upfront costs or higher rents.
In a recent interview Adani claimed his ambitious plans with the redevelopment of the slum. He said that he wanted to make Dharavi into the next Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). He said that he sees a behemoth financial market hidden in the slum. While concluding he said if everything goes right Dharavi would be the next Nariman Point or Marine Lines.
