'Biggest loot in modern India continues': Congress on Dharavi project contract to Adani Group
New Delhi, Dec 17: The Congress Sunday slammed the government over the Dharavi redevelopment project being given to the Adani group, saying this is an example of how the conglomerate is getting enriched at the expense of people.
The Congress' attack came a day after a protest was held in Mumbai against the Dharavi redevelopment project being helmed by the Adani group. It said "the biggest loot in modern India continues" in full public gaze with the "complete support" of the ruling party.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has alleged it was the "world's biggest Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) scam".
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the unique quality of the "Modani Mega Scam" is not just that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is channeling lakhs of crores towards his "close friends" and creating a Modi-Made Monopoly (3M), but that the money is coming straight from the pockets of ordinary Indians.
"We already know that the inflated cost of over-invoiced coal imports is being borne by lakhs of electricity consumers and that middle-class travellers are paying Modani's inflated airport charges," he said.
The Congress has been attacking the Adani Group, accusing it of wrongly benefitting from the BJP government. The party has been demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the allegations of stock manipulation made by US research group Hindenburg.
The business conglomerate has denied any wrongdoing on its part.
Ramesh said it is now becoming even more clear that the true beneficiary of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project are not the people of Mumbai, or of Dharavi, but the "PM's closest friend, aided and abetted by Devendra Fadnavis".
Despite official and unofficial claims, the reality is that the Dharavi project will result in the Adani conglomerate being given a mammoth 10.5 crore square feet of real estate Transferable Development Rights (TDR) equivalent to 6-7 times the area of Dharavi, the Congress leader claimed.
He said this has been presented in a detailed study by the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee President and Dharavi MLA, Varsha Gaekwad.
TDR is a transferable credit that allows builders who use land, for instance, in approved slum development projects to be compensated with extra construction rights in other areas, Ramesh pointed out.
"We have previously asked the PM to explain how the Adani conglomerate came to win the lucrative Dharavi project after an earlier tender'? won by a different developer'? was cancelled and rebid. In the earlier tender, the developer was offered a TDR equivalent to 5 crore square feet, but this has now jumped by 110%, which could give the Adani conglomerate a profit margin as high as 434%," Ramesh said.
These supernormal profits have been enabled by Fadnavis' modifications of Development Control Regulations on 5 November, 2018 and 28 September, 2022 that have the effect of handing the Adani conglomerate a huge TDR bank, he alleged.
"By doing away with indexation, these government resolutions give the Adani conglomerate the freedom to sell TDR anywhere in Mumbai, including south and central Mumbai and that too at much higher rates than previously allowed," Ramesh claimed.
All Mumbai developers will now be compelled to buy 40 per cent of their TDR requirement from the Adani conglomerate at exorbitant rates, he said.
Noting that Dharavi is a very diverse, thriving community of seven lakh people that represents a mini-India, Ramesh said it has a large number of small, independent businesses that generate an estimated Rs 100 crore in annual income to the government.
"Yet documents show that most of these people will be evicted out and only 54,461 slum dwellers and 9,522 residents in chawls and buildings will receive a rehabilitation home within Dharavi," the Congress leader said.
Furthermore, there has been no independent citywide assessment of what impact the creation of this mammoth TDR will have on Mumbai, in a contravention of prevailing rules and court orders, he said.
"This lucrative revdi for the Adani conglomerate could have a huge negative impact on the quality of life in Mumbai, for rich and poor alike. And the people are well aware of this - a protest against this MegaScam was held on December 16th, led by senior leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi and attended by thousands of Dharavi residents," Ramesh said.
"This is yet another example of how Modani is getting enriched at the expense of the people of India. And a reminder of how the biggest loot in modern India continues in full public gaze, with the complete support of the PM and the ruling party," Ramesh said in his statement.
The Dharavi Redevelopment Project on Saturday said the Dharavi slum redevelopment project was awarded to it by the previous Congress-Shiv Sena coalition government (Maha Vikas Aghadi or MVA) through a fair and open international bidding.
In a statement, a spokesperson of Adani's Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (DRPPL) had said financial conditions, including the obligations and incentives, were known to all bidders and had not changed for the awardee.
It is now becoming even more clear that the true beneficiary of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project are not the people of Mumbai, or of Dharavi, but the PM's closest friend, aided and abetted by Shri Devendra Fadnavis.
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 17, 2023
Statement issued by Shri @Jairam_Ramesh 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/KUm9JmQF2F
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
