'Reliance owes Rs 341 cr to MMRDA for BKC project delay'

Reliance Industries Ltd owes Rs 341 crore to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority as additional premium charges at a joint property being developed in the posh BKC area here, shows an RTI query.
The amount is penalty on the Mukesh Ambani-led company for failing to develop the C-66 plot in G Block, named as One BKC. It was to be developed within four years as a commercial building with car park.
The information, given by MMRDA to RTI activist Anil Galgali, showed that the amount has been due for the past 34 months.
When contacted, an RIL spokesman faulted the developer, Raghuleela Builders Pvt Ltd - with which MMRDA and RIL have a tripartite agreement to develop the property - for the delay in construction, which is now almost complete.

RIL also disputed calling the payment delay as "default", saying the developer has time to make the payment till the time of seeking occupation certificate (OC).
"The delay in payment can't be referred to as default since as per RFP (request for proposal), the lessee can make the payment along with interest, if any, before final completion certificate is granted," the spokesman said in a statement.

Galgali had filed an RTI query with MMRDA seeking details of the plot of the new business district in the central part of the megapolis in September 2008.
The state-run planning agency for Mumbai, in its reply, has said plot No C-66, ad-measuring 10183.18 square metres, was leased to RIL on September 27, 2008 for Rs 918.03 crore and allowed development of 30,550 sq metres of commercial space and 20,366 sq metres for public parking.

But Reliance failed to develop the plot within the stipulated timeframe and as per land disposal policy, it owes an additional premium of Rs 341 crore to MMRDA, said the RTI reply, furnished by an official of Town Planning Division.