Eknath Shinde Faces Opposition Fury Over ₹50,000 Cr Navi Mumbai Scam.

Unmesh Gujarathi
Sprouts News Exclusive
Contact: +91 9322755098

A ₹50,000 crore Navi Mumbai land scam has surfaced, with the Sprouts News Investigation Team (SIT) exposing fraudulent forest land transfers to the Bivalkar family. Opposition leaders blame the then Chief Minister and now

Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde and ex-CIDCO chief Sanjay Shirsat. Sanjay Raut has demanded an ED probe, calling it Maharashtra’s biggest land fraud.

A ₹50,000 crore land scam has shaken Maharashtra, involving the fraudulent transfer of 4,078 acres of protected forest land and the illegal allotment of prime CIDCO plots. Documents accessed by the Sprouts News Special Investigation Team (SIT) reveal how influential political leaders, bureaucrats, and land mafias allegedly orchestrated the deal in favour of the powerful Yashwant Narayan Bivalkar and his family.

According to SIT findings, the land in question was classified as forest reserve under government records. Despite this, CIDCO authorities, with political backing, diverted it for private use.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has written a direct letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, calling the scam “one of the biggest loot operations in Maharashtra’s history.” He alleged that the then Chief Minister and now Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde and then CIDCO Chairman Sanjay Shirsat enabled the transfer, pocketing an estimated ₹20,000 crore personally, while another ₹10,000 crore was siphoned to Delhi-based political bosses.

Following the Sprouts News SIT expose, NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, NCP state president Shashikant Shinde (Sharad Pawar faction), and PWP leader Bhavna Ghanekar jointly addressed a press conference demanding a court-monitored probe.

A massive morcha was also staged at CIDCO Bhavan, Navi Mumbai, where opposition leaders accused the Shinde government of “selling Maharashtra’s land to private cronies.”

At the centre of the scam lies the Bivalkar family, who allegedly received land allotment rights despite being ineligible under the 12.5% compensation scheme for project-affected persons (PAPs).

Raut’s letter to Amit Shah highlighted that while thousands of genuine PAPs are still landless, the Bivalkars faced no hurdles in grabbing property worth ₹50,000 crore. According to SIT sources, the family allegedly paid ₹20,000 crore in bribes to secure approvals.

The SIT investigation shows that the scam was not an overnight transaction but a carefully planned diversion involving the Revenue Department, Urban Development Ministry, and CIDCO officials. Files were allegedly moved with unusual speed when Shirsat was appointed CIDCO Chairman for just 25 days, a tenure critics claim was “tailor-made” to push the deal through.

Sanjay Raut has demanded that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) immediately register a case and conduct a recovery drive.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi once said na khaoonga, na khane dunga, but today BJP-led agencies are shielding the corrupt. This is not development; it is destruction,” Raut wrote in his letter.

Meanwhile, NCP’s Rohit Pawar stated, “This scam is bigger than Adarsh or Lavasa. The land mafia has entered government corridors, and accountability must start at the top.”

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Navi Mumbai is the financial capital’s growth hub, with multi-billion-dollar projects like the Navi Mumbai International Airport and upcoming Metro corridors. Fraudulent land diversion here not only deprives project-affected farmers but also poses serious risks to infrastructure planning, environmental protection, and housing policy.

The Sprouts News Investigation Team (SIT) concludes that unless there is judicial or CBI-monitored intervention, the scam may set a dangerous precedent for land acquisition across India.

This ₹50,000 crore scandal is not just about land—it is about the erosion of governance. With opposition parties uniting, central agencies under scrutiny, and public anger rising, the Eknath Shinde government faces a credibility crisis.

As of today, thousands of farmers remain landless and betrayed, while the Bivalkar family sits on land worth billions.

The Sprouts News Special Investigation Team (SIT) will continue to track developments and monitor whether this case reaches the courts—or becomes another file buried in Maharashtra’s corridors of power.

Speaking to Sprouts News, Yashwant Narayan Bivalkar categorically denied all allegations against him.