Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will decide if Global Citizen, organisers of British rock band Coldplay’s concert, will get a rent waiver for using the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authorit
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will decide if Global Citizen, organisers of British rock band Coldplay’s concert, will get a rent waiver for using the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) grounds at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) on November 19.
The Asian Age had reported on Saturday about Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and the Global Citizen writing to MMRDA requesting it to waive off rent for using the venue.
However, the MMRDA reportedly has informed both the parties that it cannot take any decision on waiving off the rent without getting an official order to the effect from the state government. U.P.S. Madan, metropolitan commissioner of MMRDA, has said the decision will be taken in the authority meeting.
“Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis being the chairman of the MMRDA will take the final call in the authority meeting that is scheduled next week,” said an MMRDA official on the condition of anonymity.
BJP MP Poonam Mahajan has been acting as the mediator between Global Citizen and state government. The state government is the host partner for the event. “It is great that we are having someone like Coldplay performing in the city, especially considering the kind of social work they are involved in,” said Ms Mahajan.
However, she refused to confirm if she supported the rent waiver for use of the venue.
However, Vivekanad Gupta, secretary, BJP, said, “Waiving off revenue for music concert is in no way connected to tourism. Any organisation, if it is using a government property, it should be paying rent for using the ground and no discounts or waivers should be considered.”
Valsa Nair, principal secretary, tourism department, said, “Directly we are not associated with the concert of rock band Coldplay but people coming to these concerts are from different parts of the country and sometimes even foreigners do come and getting international bands into any state or city does make a difference in terms of revenue one recovers in the form of indirect taxes that people coming from outside pay.”
The state government is also planning to host one of the country’s famous Electronic Dance Music (EDM) event organised by Sunburn in December.
