Two days before the Election Commission announced that the Code of Conduct for the Assembly Elections shall come into force, the Maharashtra government has revoked the multi-crore project to build central library inside Mumbai University’s Kalina campus. However, the decision has come at a huge price.
According to Indian Express, on February 19, 2009, a cabinet sub-committee on infrastructure under then Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had appointed the firm Indiabulls Real Estate following a tendering process. However, the project has been stuck in between with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) due to alleged irregularities.
According to Indian Express, ACB accused Chhagan Bhujbal who was the then Public Works Department minister, and his kin for allegedly receiving Rs 2.5 crore from Indiabulls as a bribe in the form of donation for their NGO Chhagan Bhujbal Charitable Trust in exchange of facilitating the land deal.
In 2016, due to this controversy, Vivek Damani, Joint Managing Director, Indiabulls Real Estate had told Indian Express that the they are not willing to continue the work of the library which was almost done except interior work. “In light of these circumstances, we do not wish to undertake the project, and have requested the government to cancel the tender, take possession of the plot, and refund the money spent by us to complete the library construction.”
Now, the controversy between the government and the public private partnership (PPP) with Indiabulls Real Estate to construct the library has come to an end. The government has finally revoked the project and it has agreed to pay Rs 137.07 crore to Indiabulls Real Estate Limited (IREL) as compensation.
