Tainted Company attempts backdoor entry to Rs 5,000 crore SRA project

A blacklisted firm is allegedly trying indirect access to the lucrative Andheri RTO slum redevelopment project. One of the bidders for the project is LTR SSM Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between L&T Realty and SSM Realty.

Interestingly, one of the company’s directors is son of Shailesh Mehta whose company Sunshine Builders and Developers and all its directors were blacklisted by Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in June 2015 for irregularities and delays in the Mahakali Darshan SRA CHS redevelopment project.

Another clear link between the blacklisted firm and the new company is Sangeeta Mehta, Shailesh Mehta’s wife, who is also a partner in SSM Realty.

According to Registrar of Companies records accessed by Mirror, the new company, with L&T House at Ballard Estate as its registered address, was founded on September 24, just a day before bidding for the Andheri project started.

Five other companies have bid for the project and the winner will be selected through voting on October 3 by slum-dwellers from Annanagar, Vitthal-Rukhmai and Kasam Nagar. According to market estimates, this project is worth around Rs 5,000 crore.

The Andheri RTO SRA scheme was first floated in 2006. Home to 900 slum-dwellers, with 472 eligible to vote, it has an FSI of 4, where 3 lakh sqft of construction can take place; the rest would be available for building sale component, residential and commercial spaces.

After a series of irregularities and complaints, including by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, then SRA CEO Vishwas Patil terminated contract with developer KS Chamankar Enterprises for alleged links with the Maharashtra Sadan scam that is purportedly further linked to former state PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and is currently under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate.

Under the scheme, Chamankar was required to rehabilitate close to 800 slum-dwellers in Andheri, construct Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, High Mount state guest house at Malabar Hill and an RTO complex in Mumbai.

The termination by the SRA CEO was modified by state’s Apex Grievance Redressal Committee to bar blacklisted developers or entities associated with Chamankar Enterprises or otherwise blacklisted. Soon after this termination, Sangeeta and Saurabh Mehta from the family of blacklisted Sunshine Builders and Developers formed another company called SSM Realty.

“The (Apex Grievance Redressal) Committee further directs the Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies/SRA, to forthwith issue public notice to hold a general body meeting of eligible slum-dwellers of the said three societies which will be taken at the site in presence of the Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies; for appointment of the new developer – excluding Ms KS Chamankar Enterprises and any entity associated with the developer that has been blacklisted by SRA – by way of election with 70 percent consent of eligible slum-dwellers,” the committee’s order reads, making it clear that backlisted developers are barred from taking part in the bidding.

L&T Realty refused to respond to a detailed questionnaire from Mumbai Mirror. “There are no comments from ‘L&T Realty’ to your queries,” a company spokesperson said in an email response. SRA’s current CEO Deepak Kapoor also did not respond to calls and text messages.