Mumbai: With the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) halting rent payments for several political party offices and other state-run institutions previously housed near Vidhan Bhavan, the state Public Works Department (PWD) has stepped in to cover the rental costs until permanent accommodations are arranged. A total of 27 offices, including seven political party offices, are affected, and the state government will now bear the rent burden.
MMRCL had taken over the prime Nariman Point plot in 2017, necessitating the relocation of these offices to rented premises. In 2025, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) finalized one of Mumbai's largest land deals, signing an agreement with MMRCL to acquire the 4.2-acre (16,832 sq m) plot at Nariman Point for Rs 3,472 crore to build its new office complex.
“In connection with the Mumbai Metro 3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) project, political parties and government offices operating in barracks on Free Press Journal Road were temporarily shifted to an alternative location. Rent was being paid through MMRCL until project completion. Now that the project is finished, MMRCL has stopped paying rent from April 1. The proposal to provide an alternative location or allow continued functioning at the present location until rehabilitation is completed is under consideration,” officials stated.
These 27 offices are expected to eventually move to the upcoming Manora MLA Hostel building near the plot, currently under construction. Until then, the state government will pay their rent. The offices currently operate from private rented premises in various South Mumbai locations, including those 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 government departments like the 6th Finance Commission and Controller of Legal Metrology (PWD) were also shifted in 2017 when MMRCL took over the plot next to Vidhan Bhavan station; their rent will now be paid by PWD.
A Government Resolution (GR) stated that PWD will take steps to provide alternative space and pay rent until rehabilitation. Due to Metro Line-3 completion, MMRCL stopped rent payments from April 1, 2026, and a new lease agreement will be entered into with the property owner through PWD. The draft lease agreement will be reviewed by the Department of Law and Judiciary.
