The BMC’s improvement committee on Friday cleared the five-year lease of a 15-acre parcel of the city’s former Mulund dumping ground to Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited (NMDPL) for use in the Dharavi redevelopment project, drawing fresh criticism from the Opposition over the use of public land.

The proposal was cleared despite objections from the Opposition, which questioned the handover of the land to a private entity without a tendering process and warned that it could set a “dangerous precedent” for future civic land allotments.

NMDPL will use the Mulund plot to set up a casting yard and ready-mix concrete plant for the Dharavi housing project. It is a special purpose vehicle in which Adani Properties Private Limited holds an 80 per cent stake, while the state government’s Slum Rehabilitation Authority holds the remaining 20 per cent.

Over the five-year lease period, the BMC expects to earn Rs 103.47 crore from the plot.

The improvement committee had stalled the proposal on July 28 and referred it back to the civic administration, citing environmental concerns and seeking clarity on the proposed casting yard.

On Friday, however, the committee, headed by the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, approved the proposal. Committee chairperson Sandhya Doshi said all members had been given an opportunity to express their views before the project was sanctioned.

While the ruling alliance backed the handover, citing its importance to the Dharavi redevelopment project, the Opposition questioned the need to use civic land nearly 25 km from Dharavi.

“The land is being handed over for five years without any tendering process. The handover of public land to private players sets a wrong and dangerous precedent. The agency could have done the work within Dharavi itself, and there was no need to execute developments nearly 25 km away from the project site,” Congress leader Ashraf Azmi told .

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The lease rent has been fixed at Rs 252 per sq metre. NMDPL will pay Rs 9.17 crore in advance, equivalent to six months’ rent, once the allotment is approved. It will subsequently pay Rs 1.52 crore a month, with the rent increasing by 6 per cent every six months.

Over the five-year lease period, the BMC expects to earn Rs 103.47 crore from the plot.