Firms new offer for Mantralaya makeover
After Chief Minister Ashok Chavan scrapped the Mantralaya makeover project awarded to Indiabulls, the real estate company has come up with a revised proposal to bag the prestigious contract.
It has, in a letter sent recently to the CM, said it is still willing to undertake the project and offered details of its new plan.
The Rs 1,376 crore makeover project has been controversial right from the time it was awarded to Indiabulls in August 2009.
After the plan was scrapped in the wake of allegations that the government had declared Mantralaya a slum to get additional Floor Space Index (FSI), Chavan had proposed that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) should redevelop Mantralaya as part of its Nariman Point makeover plan.
Deputy CM and Public Works Development (PWD) Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, however, had suggested that the state make a budgetary provision for the makeover and ensure the state headquarters is rebuilt with government money.
In its fresh letter to the CM, Indiabulls has proposed to pay Rs 385 crore to MMRDA so that the authority can revamp Mantralaya and the Vidhan Bhavan. It has said it will undertake the remaining work of construction of houses for legislators, judges and state officials, and construction of party offices and auditoriums at a cost of Rs 470 crore.
It has offered to pay Rs 293 crore as corpus fund for the project and Rs 276.50 crore upfront in keeping with the tender conditions. On the use of FSI, the firm has said it will not exceed the limit of 1.33 as per conditions in the tender document.
A senior Indiabulls executive, requesting anonymity, confirmed that the firm had sent a fresh letter to the CM. The makeover plan, mired in controversy, had created bad blood between Chavan and Bhujbal, who was the strongest advocate of the project.