MUMBAI, Feb. 26 -- Granting partial relief to the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), the Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday nearly halved the arbitral award of Rs.496.48 crore handed out by a tribunal in favour of Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL). The HC partly upheld the Rs.496.48 crore that the Arbitral Tribunal had asked MMRDA to pay the MMOPL by in 2023. It, however, set aside claims worth nearly Rs.249 crore out of the total amount awarded. The court was hearing a petition filed by the MMRDA challenging the arbitration award in favour of the MMOPL. The matter was before the arbitral tribunal following differences over the concession agreement (CA) of 2007 that the MMRDA and MMOPL had entered into for the construction of the Mumbai Metro Line 1 (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar) that started operation in June, 2014. The MMRDA had challenged the award of Rs.496.48 crore in MMOPL's favour. This included Rs.35 crore for deductions made in the Viability Gap Fund, Rs.13.16 crore for additional cost incurred on renting land in Wadala for a casting yard, Rs.30.48 crore for construction of a steel bridge at Andheri station, and Rs.411.70 crore for increase in the cost of the project, with interest. The tribunal had rejected the counter-claims made by the MMRDA. The MMRDA's lawyers argued that no evidence was provided by MMOPL to prove the alleged costs incurred by it. The court struck down Rs.100 crore awarded to the MMOPL by the tribunal for additional overheads, Rs.125 crore awarded for additional interest and financial expenses, and Rs.23.47 crore awarded for loss of profit. The Arbitral Tribunal had also awarded arbitration costs of Rs.1 crore in favour of MMOPL but the HC said "since some of the claims of MMOPL are found to be totally unfounded" it halved that too....