MUMBAI: Even as veteran NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal was discharged by a special court in the Kalina Central Library case last week, the public works department (PWD) is all set to complete the project by October end or early November.
On September 23, a day before Bhujbal’s acquittal, the state higher and technical education department issued a GR sanctioning ₹ 71.63 crore for the balance 6% work left. The Central Library is an entire building of six floors, with a built-up area of 14,138 square metres and two basements of 7,864 square metres. Bhujbal, then PWD minister, colluded with departmental officials to manipulate the proposal-cum-feasibility report and tender process for the library to favour IndiaBulls, causing an alleged loss of around ₹ 79 crore to the state, according to the ACB. The chosen firm subsequently donated ₹ 2.5 crore to the Chhagan Bhujbal Welfare Foundation, headed by Bhujbal, as a quid pro quo for the favour, the ACB claimed.
“The auditorium will be completed by the end of October. We will apply to the BMC for an Occupation Certificate and do the inauguration after we get the OC. Apart from a library, the building has an auditorium, reading room and two seminar halls.
The project at Mumbai University’s Kalina campus, which began over a decade ago, was stuck due to the case for years, but work on it resumed in 2025 with permission from the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Pradnya Walke, the PWD’s chief engineer for the Mumbai region, said there was very little work remaining. “We need to complete the auditorium and install the chairs,” she said. Sources said the work was being completed by Nashik-based developer Spectrum Infrastructure. On September 24, the special court discharged Bhujbal from the decade-old corruption case involving the Central Library, observing that the prosecution had failed to establish a criminal conspiracy or prove his “invisible support” for IndiaBulls Real Estate Ltd, the firm which executed the project. The court said the prosecution had not been able to demonstrate the nexus between the applicant’s official acts and the alleged criminal object.
