While the arbitration over Mumbai Metro's construction cost is ongoing for over since four years now, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has spent around Rs 15 crore on arbitration in form of legal fees, travel, stay by having 69 hearings for the arbitration at luxury hotels like Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel Oberoi at Nariman Point.
The MMRDA and Reliance Infrastructure-led Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) are in arbitration over construction cost of Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro-1, wherein MMOPL cites civil cost to be over Rs 4,000 crore, the MMRDA claims the project cost to be around Rs 2,200 crore for which the arbitration is currently ongoing.
The MMRDA says for the venue of arbitration, it shares half expenditure with MMOPL by booking at third party places. Of the total Rs 14.86 crore arbitration expenses between 2014 and February 2019, the maximum expense was incurred on legal fees of the lawyer for arbitration, fees of arbitrator followed by expenditure on the venue of the same.
The arbitration expenditure data was accessed by DNA through Right To Information (RTI) act, 2005 that reveals the expense incurred by MMRDA for arbitration in 2014 stood at around Rs 17 lakh in 2014, around Rs 94 lakh in 2015, around Rs 3 crore in 2016, around Rs 5 crore in 2017 followed by around Rs 4 crore in 2018 and 60 lakhs in 2019, up-to February.
However, MMRDA is yet to provide the copies of the bills over the arbitration expenses. The data provided by MMRDA states, around 69 hearings were undertaken at Hotel Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel Oberoi between April 2015 and December 2018. According to MMRDA, the expenditure over stay at hotels, travel and vehicles were reimbursed by MMRDA to MMOPL stood around Rs 7.98 lakh in February 2018 and Rs 21.18 lakh in May 2018.
The Mumbai Metro project was the first project constructed on public-private partnership (PPP) model wherein Reliance Infrastructure has 69 per cent stakes, MMRDA has 26 per cent stakes and French-based company the remaining stakes. Meanwhile, a query sent to MMOPL over sharing the expenditure on the venue did not yield any response till the time of going to the press.
The MMRDA has spent around Rs 15 cr on arbitration in form of legal fees, travel, stay by having 69 hearings at luxury hotels like Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel Oberoi at Nariman Point