MUMBAI: The state cabinet on Tuesday gave its assent to three stamp duty waiver proposals collectively worth ₹264.25 crore. One of these is the Gautam Adani-led Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) while the other two are the Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU) in Goregaon and the Raigad Pen Growth Centre in Pen. The approvals were given despite the opposition of the finance department to two of the three proposals.
The MNLU waiver will cost the exchequer ₹186.02 crore while the waiver to the Raigad Pen Growth Centre will set it back by ₹33.25 crore. The DRP plot—a 47.5-acre piece of land at Matunga belonging to the Railways—which is to be leased for 99 years, is valued at ₹1,000 crore, and would have got the government ₹45 crore in stamp duty. HT had reported about this stamp duty waiver on June 10.
“The stamp duty on the other land parcels given on leasehold and ownership to the Adani Realty-led DRP, has already been waived by an order issued in September 2019,” said a Mantralaya official. “Tuesday’s decision was for a waiver on the Railways land given on leasehold. The DRP has been announced as a vital project by the state government and thus is eligible for such benefits. The finance department has, however, opposed the waiver.”
The MNLU plot is 1,41,640 square metres valued at ₹3,100 crore. The university has been earmarked as an important special purpose project in DCPR 2034 and is expected to impart law education to students from all strata of society. The finance department has assented to only this proposal out of the three.
“The Chief Justice of India is going to lay the foundation stone of the university. Since he is unlikely to assent to the function unless the legal formalities related to the transfer of the land are complete, the state government has decided to expedite the process,” said an official from the law and judiciary department.
The Raigad Pen Growth Centre (RPGC) is a joint project involving MMRDA and RPGC. The project involves 1,217.71 acres of land registered under a special purpose vehicle. “The stamp duty was ₹66.55 crore, of which the state government has waived 50% or ₹33.25 crore,” said a senior revenue official. This waiver proposal too was opposed by the finance department.
The RPGC-MMRDA project aims to develop a planned township, including fintech firms, educational and healthcare facilities, entertainment parks, affordable housing, retail and construction, generating significant local employment. Being the first major public-private partnership project of its kind, it is expected to attract foreign investment and generate tax revenue.
Speaking about the MNLU campus, a senior official from the state revenue department said that the state government allocated a 35-acre plot for it at Goregaon’s Pahadi village in June 2023. “To get possession of the property, the MNLU administration was supposed to pay ₹186.02 crore, which has been waived by the state government,” he said.
The MNLU plot has been at the centre of a controversy for the change effected in its reservation status. It was previously reserved as a ‘natural area’ and then changed to ‘residential area’ in the Development Plan, paving the way for setting up the MNLU campus.