Seclink challenges Dharavi redevelopment tender allotment to Adani; Supreme Court to hear in December

The Supreme Court today deferred hearing in the plea filed by a Seclink Technologies Corporation challenging the tender allotted to Adani for the redevelopment of the Dharavi slum in Mumbai.

A CJI BR Gavai led bench said, "hearing the case is not an issue, but writing the judgment is", referring to his retirement in two weeks on November 24, 2025.

An SLP has been filed before the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court's decision refusing relief to Secklink. he Dharavi Redevelopment Project, one of India’s largest urban renewal initiatives, aims to transform Mumbai’s sprawling slum cluster into a modern integrated township. The project was initially awarded to Seclink in 2019, but the tender was later scrapped and reissued, with the Adani Group emerging as the highest bidder in 2022.

In December 2024, Bombay High Court had dismissed a petition filed by the Seychelles-based firm challenging the tender allotted to Adani noting, “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 first tender was issued by the state government in 2018 wherein STC emerged as the highest bidder with a bid offer of Rs. 7200 crore for the 259-hectare redevelopment project. However, after the new government was formed, the earlier tender was cancelled and a new tender was issued in 2022 which was allotted to Adani for Rs. 5069 crore. The government contended that a fresh tender was issued because the financial and economic conditions were affected by COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Additionally, the state government had argued that Seclink Technologies had the opportunity to meet the revised bid requirements within the new tender process. “There is no question of excluding anyone's participation as the bids were required to be submitted afresh and the petitioner also could have submitted a bid by complying with the terms and conditions of the new tender,” the affidavit stated.

The state had also submitted that under the new tender, the selected bidder will also be required to accommodate the non-eligible slum tenements in affordable housing or under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and pertinently such requirement was not there in the old 2018 tender.

While defending the revision of the tender the state said that “Under the new tender, the selected bidder will also be required to accommodate the non-eligible slum tenements in affordable housing or under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and pertinently such requirement was not there in the old 2018 tender,” the affidavit stated. The state government also countered Seclink's allegation that awarding the tender to Adani resulted in a loss to the government exchequer.

Case Title: SECLINK TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

Bench: CJI Gavai, Justices Chandran and Pancholi

Hearing Date: November 13, 2025