Mumbai, Dec 20: Citing weak grounds for a challenge, the Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a petition against the Maharashtra government’s decision on the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in Mumbai and upheld the tender awarded to Adani Properties Private Limited.

A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar dismissed a petition filed by UAE-based Seclink Technologies Corporation, saying: “The grounds raised in the petition lack force and effort. The challenge to the government’s action of cancelling the earlier tender and issuing a fresh tender award fails.”

The Adani Group had emerged as the highest bidder for the 259-hectare Dharavi Redevelopment Project and bagged it with its Rs 5,069-crore offer in the 2022 tender process.

In the first tender issued in 2018, the petitioner company had emerged as the highest bidder with its Rs 7,200-crore offer.

The Eknath Shinde government had cancelled the 2018 tender and issued a fresh one in 2022 with additional conditions. The state government decided to include 45 acres of railway land in the project for slum rehabilitation, an element not included in the original proposal.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had recommended that the state government issue a new tender to reflect the changes and incorporate factors like the costs of acquiring this land.

The state government had opposed the petitioner’s claim and maintained that the revised tender conditions were not arbitrary but were important for ensuring that the development was financially viable.

Referring to the changed economic landscape between 2019 and 2022, the state government justified its decision to cancel the 2018 tender and issue a fresh one in 2022.

Seclink Technologies Corporation first challenged the cancellation of the 2018 tender and subsequently the 2022 tender award to the Adani Group.

The state government had submitted before the High Court that the tender process was transparent.

Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slums, is spread over 2.8 sq km of prime land near the Bandra-Kurla. Established in 1884 during the British colonial era, it initially housed expelled factories and residents from Mumbai’s city centre. Its informal leather and pottery industries are estimated to employ over 100,000 people.

The Dharavi redevelopment plan seeks to replace the existing informal settlements with modern housing, infrastructure, and commercial spaces.

New Delhi, Dec 19: Global automaker Range Rover on Thursday announced the start of sales for the 2025 ‘Made in India’ Range Rover Sport in the country.

The ‘2025 Range Rover Sport’ – the first made-in-India vehicle exclusively for the country– is now available in smooth and powerful 3.0l Petrol Dynamic HSE and 3.0l Diesel Dynamic HSE variants, the Tata Motors Group company said in a statement.

The pricing of the New Range Rover Sport now starts at Rs 1.45 crore, ex-showroom, and is available in five colour options – Fuji White, Santorini Black, Giola Green, Varesine Blue and Charente Grey.

Available in 3.0l Petrol Dynamic HSE and 3.0l Diesel Dynamic HSE variants, the Range Rover Sport is built on the state-of-the-art MLA-Flex platform, offering next-level capability, performance and handling, as well as greater efficiency.

“With the introduction of new features such as perforated semi-aniline leather seats, massage front seats and head-up display, our discerning clients will get an elevated experience of comfort and technology in Range Rover Sport,” said Rajan Amba, Managing Director, JLR India.

The 13.1‑inch curved touchscreen for Pivi Pro infotainment is complemented by intuitive 13.7‑inch Interactive Driver Display, with ‘Software Over The Air’ as well as ‘Head-Up Display.’

The 2025 Range Rover Sport offers semi-aniline leather seats, renowned for their exceptional quality and tactility.

In September, Tata Motors held the groundbreaking ceremony of its new Rs 9,000 crore facility in Tamil Nadu that will manufacture and export next-gen vehicles for Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

Situated at Panapakkam in Ranipet district, the plant will cater to both domestic and international markets, while creating over 5,000 jobs. Tata Motors Group intends to invest Rs 9,000 crore in this greenfield manufacturing facility, which has been designed for an annual production capacity of over 250,000 vehicles.

Production will begin in a phased manner and progressively increase to reach this capacity over the next 5-7 years.

In May this year, Tata Motors-owned JLR said it plans to start assembling the flagship Range Rover model, along with Range Rover Sport, in India for the first time, significantly bringing down the prices.

The company’s Pune plant currently assembles the Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar F-PACE, and Discovery Sport models.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated in a parliamentry debate on Tuesday, December 17, that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had given victims and legitimate claimants access to assets valued at Rs 22,280 crore.

During the discussion of the first set of Supplementary Demands for Grants in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman gave an overview of the ED’s initiatives to retrieve ill-gotten wealth and return it to defrauded investors and public sector banks.

Major recoveries by ED (Enforcement Directorate)

In one of the most significant cases, the ED retrieved properties from fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya valued at Rs 14,131.6 crore, which were then turned over to public sector banks.

In the Nirav Modi case, properties valued at Rs 1,052.58 crore were also given back to both public and private banks.

Properties worth Rs 2,565.90 crore that the ED attached in the Mehul Choksi case are now scheduled for auction. In addition, legitimate investors were given back assets from the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) scam valued at Rs 17.47 crore.

FM emphasised the effectiveness of ‘Black Money Act’

The Finance Minister also emphasized how well the 2015 Black Money Act has worked to reduce unreported foreign assets. Between 2021–2022 and 2024–2025, the number of taxpayers declaring foreign assets increased dramatically from 60,467 to over 2 lakh.

As of June 2024, 163 prosecutions had been started and 697 cases under the Black Money Act had demands totaling Rs 17,520 crore from the government.

Government’s multi agency group

In 582 cases, investigations into international leaks, such as the Panama Papers and Pandora Papers, have uncovered undisclosed income totaling Rs 33,393 crore.

The government has formed a Multi-Agency Group (MAG) for coordinated action against unaccounted foreign assets in order to speed up these efforts. ‘We are after them,’ Sitharaman reaffirmed. We will see to it that funds that are due to banks and investors are reimbursed.