MMRCL Releases Metro Contractors' Payments

Amid the ongoing litigation over property tax dues, the BMC has clarified that it has not violated any court orders or initiated enforcement action against the metro rail contractors working on Mumbai Metro Line 3.

- Linah Baliga

MUMBAI: This clarification follows a legal notice issued by two metro contractors to the BMC and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) on April 21 this year, threatening to halt construction over withheld payments.

Four private contractors—Dogus Soma JV, CEC-ITD JV, L&T STEC JV and HCC, had approached the Bombay high court, challenging the BMC's property tax demands under Section 184 of the Railways Act, 1989, which exempts railway land from such levies. They argued that the casting yard at Wadala Truck Terminal, used for Metro construction, falls under this exemption.