M/s KS Chamankar Enterprises kept improving on their proposals between 1998 and 2001 to develop the RTO plot, but the RTO officials rejected it because there was an independent proposal to develop the plot.
It was then that M/s PS Chamankar Associates submitted a new proposal to Chhagan Bhujbal — then the deputy chief minister — offering free construction on 3,600 square metres against a NOC from the RTO.
On July 13, 2001 Mr Bhujbal called a meeting of all concerned officials of the transport department and Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), to purportedly discuss a law and order problem in the said area. Interestingly, ED states in its charge sheet that police authorities had denied any law and order issues in the area at that time.
Later, the home department in a letter dated November 16, 2002 directed the Commissioner, Transport to grant NOC to M/s KS Chamankar Enterprises for free construction of an RTO office, residential quarters for officers, compound wall and a test track for vehicles.
The RTO accordingly conveyed this to the chief executive officer of SRA on May 26, 2003, and later SRA issued a letter of intent to M/s KS Chamankar Enterprises on October 27, 2004. “At this stage there was no indication of Maharashtra Sadan work or High Mount Guest House work”, notes the ED charge sheet.
M/s KS Chamankar Enterprises’ proposals should have been rejected by the PWD department considering the firm was not an approved contractor in the list of PWD, the ED has recorded.
It submitted a revised proposal on October 4, 2005 offering to construct Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, RTO Office in Andheri, a test track and some additional construction of 11,430 square metres at a cost of Rs 75.52 crore.
The ED states that at this stage nobody, apart from PWD department officials, were aware of the Maharashtra Sadan project and hence there was no question of any private person or developer of getting to know about the project.
On March 29, 2006, Chhagan Bhujbal called a meeting of concerned officers to discuss the proposal put forth by M/s KS Chamankar Enterprises, and despite warnings from Secretary (constructions) and Chief Secretary, Home Department (Transport) of non-transparency, went ahead and ordered that the proposal be put forth for sanction before the cabinet.
When the Chief Secretary called a meeting to discuss the said proposal, the Secretary (Construction) wrote a letter informing that the PWD minister had discussed the proposal with the CM and that the CM had ordered to place the proposal before the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure on May 3, 2006. The feasibility report of the project was not put up before the cabinet, and the note to feasibility report that was put up before the cabinet committee was signed by Chhagan Bhujbal, notes the ED charge sheet.
The report stated that the sale value of the Floor Space Index (FSI) would be Rs 239.30 crore, cost of construction to be Rs 212.15 crore and that the developers profit would be Rs 27.15 crore.
The report did not take into consideration the 35 per cent loading factor for commercial use, and the 25 per cent loading factor for residential use while deciding the sale value of FSI. It also did not consider the profit of the developer on account of 50 per cent of the 4000 square metres given to the developer for parking.
The ED in its charge sheet has stated that an approved government valuer had evaluated the project, based on the market value of 2006, at Rs 954.95 crore. The cost of the project taking into account inflation, and interest on investment would have been Rs 205.51 crore resulting in profit of Rs 749.44 crore to the developer. The ED points out that the status report prepared for the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure was totally uneconomical and no genuine developer would have agreed to do business at such abysmal rate of profit.
ED said at that stage nobody apart from PWD officials knew
of the Maharashtra
Sadan project
