India, May 25 -- The state Public Works Department (PWD) is doing the kind of math that never quite adds up. At Mantralaya, or the state secretariat, where space equals ego; multiplied by one more deputy chief minister, plus their entourage of 164; plus 13 ministers and 240 administrative staff - how do you fit them all in without starting a turf war?

While the PWD attempts spatial gymnastics, the ministers' staff is performing their own version of acrobatics. Carpenters, slicing and dicing cabins and corridors to pull new space out of thin air, have even shrunk a few cabins from 120sq ft to a miniscule 36sq ft, to make way for more cabins.

So what gives?

The six-storey secretariat at Nariman Point, where the offices of the chief minis...