BMC floats ₹2,368 Cr tenders to Clear Deonar Dump for Adani’s Dharavi Project.

Unmesh Gujarathi
Sprouts News Exclusive
Contact: +91 9322755098

The BMC will spend ₹2,368 crore to clear Mumbai’s Deonar dumping ground, enabling its transfer to Adani for Dharavi redevelopment. Despite local opposition, 50,000 residents may be relocated there. Public outcry grows over taxpayers funding the cleanup, with critics dubbing it the “Adani tax,” reports Sprouts News in this exclusive.

In a controversial move sparking debate across Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has floated tenders worth ₹2,368 crore to clear the Deonar dumping ground, paving the way for handing over the land to the Adani Group. Despite heavy local opposition, especially from Dharavi residents, the state government is proceeding with its plan to allocate the prime 124.3-acre land for Adani-led Dharavi Redevelopment.

The BMC will bear the entire cost of clearing over 185 lakh metric tonnes of waste accumulated on 110 hectares of land—waste that has been piling up for over a century. The work, to be completed over a three-year period (including monsoons), will involve large-scale bio-mining and waste disposal operations.

This massive operation is not just about waste management—it’s about real estate, relocation, and redevelopment. As part of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, around 50,000 residents deemed ineligible for rehabilitation within Dharavi will be shifted to the cleared Deonar site. This move has intensified local opposition, with many questioning the ethics and implications of relocating vulnerable communities to a former dumping ground.

According to Sprouts News, the state government decided six months ago to hand over the Deonar land for the Dharavi project. The Mumbai civic body has since received directives from the Revenue and Forest Department to begin clean-up operations. A letter issued in February instructed the Municipal Commissioner to oversee the bio-mining of the decades-old garbage, aligning the plan with existing models like the Mulund landfill project.

The Solid Waste Management Department has now officially invited tenders for the Deonar bio-mining project, with a deadline of June 3. The job entails daily extraction of 23,000 metric tonnes of waste using over 1,200 vehicle trips per day. Each of the towering garbage mounds—some as high as 40 meters—will be dismantled under scientific waste-processing methods.

Despite being a municipal responsibility, critics argue that the cost of this operation is being unfairly passed on to Mumbai taxpayers. “Why should citizens bear the financial burden of cleaning a site that will benefit a private developer?” asked a civic activist, echoing growing public sentiment now dubbed as the “Adani tax.”

Sprouts News has learned that multiple civic groups and policy observers have raised red flags about the use of public funds for a project benefitting a corporate entity. Many citizens are demanding transparency and accountability in the tendering and land allocation process.

While the government insists the clean-up is essential for urban redevelopment, questions remain about environmental safety, long-term land viability, and the ethics of resettling tens of thousands of citizens on a site once used exclusively for dumping waste.

As the ₹2,368 crore Deonar project unfolds, Sprouts News will continue to follow developments, public reactions, and political fallout from what could be one of Mumbai’s most contentious urban reshaping plans.