Mumbai: With the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) stopping payment of rent to several offices of political parties and other state-run institutions that were housed near Vidhan Bhavan, the state Public Works Department (PWD) will now pay the rent till they get permanent offices allotted. There are a total of 27 offices, including 7 political party offices for which the state govt will have to pay rent. MMRCL had taken over the prime Nariman Point plot in 2017, and these offices have been functioning out of rented premises since.In 2025, in one of the biggest land deals in the city, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed an agreement with MMRCL to acquire the 4.2-acre or 16,832 sq m plot at Nariman Point for Rs 3,472 crore to build its new office complex.“In connection with the work of Mumbai Metro 3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) project MMRCL, political parties and govt offices operating in barracks on Free Press Journal Road were temporarily shifted to an alternative location. Rent was being paid through MMRCL till the completion of the project. Now that the project has been completed, MMRCL has stopped paying rent from April 1. The proposal to provide an alternative location or to continue functioning at the present location until the rehabilitation is completed was under consideration,” said officials.Officials said these 27 offices are likely to eventually move to the upcoming Manora MLA Hostel building near the plot, which is currently under construction. But till then, the state govt will pay their rent.The offices are currently functioning from private rented premises at different locations in South Mumbai. They include offices of NCP-SP, Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), Republican Party of India (Democratic), Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, Peoples Republican Party, Samajwadi Party, and the state Congress. State govt departments like 6th Finance Commission, Controller of Legal Metrology (PWD) were also shifted in 2017, when MMMRCL took over the plot next to Vidhan Bhavan station; their rent will also be paid by PWD now.A Govt Resolution (GR) stated that the PWD will take steps to provide alternative space and pay rent for the offices until their rehabilitation. Due to the completion of the Metro Line-3 project, MMRCL has stopped paying rent from April 1, 2026, and a new lease agreement will be entered into with the owner of the premises through PWD. The draft lease agreement will be reviewed by the department of law and judiciary.
