The Adani Group has emerged as the highest bidder for the redevelopment of Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slum.

The Adani group’s bid of `5,069 crore for the 259-hectare Dharavi Redevelopment Project was much higher than second-placed DLF’s quote of `2,025 crore, said chief executive officer of the project SVR Srinivas.

“We will now be sending the details to the Government, which will consider and give final approval,” Srinivas told PTI, adding that the Eknath Shinde Government will approve it in a couple of weeks.

The bid is for the entire `20,000-crore project, and the total timeline for the project is seven years to rehabilitate the 6.5 lakh slum dwellers who are spread over a 2.5 sqkm area right now, he said. The project, which will help the winning bidder to book high revenues by selling lakhs of square feet of residential and commercial space in central Mumbai, has been in limbo for many years now because of its complexities.

Eight bidders, including entities from South Korea and the UAE, had attended a pre-bid meeting held in October and three of them actually bid for the project. Naman Group, a city-based developer, was the third whose bid did not qualify.

The Government has sought a consolidated net worth of a minimum of Rs 20,000 crore to choose the winning bid and is likely to evaluate both technical and financial eligibility before awarding the project to the highest bidder.

The winning bidder is required to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for executing the project, and a staggered timeline of investments has also been stipulated by the Government.

The developer has to take care of rehabilitation, renewal, amenities, and infrastructure components.