The Hindu Business Line : MMRDA takes ‘rental’ route to development

Mumbai, Nov. 22 The famed Bandra-Kurla land auctions are a thing of the past and the nodal agency, which auctioned a square metre for a record Rs 5.04 lakh last November, is now looking for partners to develop 20 hectares of land vested with it.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) shelved all thoughts of land auctions and has even granted six months extension to Jet Airways and Delhi-based Starlight Systems which won auctions in March 2008.

The bidders have been given six months from the day of the offer letter (September 10) to remit payment, said Mr Milind Mhaiskar, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.

Jet Airways offered Rs 826 crore for a 24,000-sq metre commercial plot and Starlight Rs 496 crore for two residential plots of 7,050 sq metre each.

Starlight is a joint venture between the Ajay Piramal Group and Suntech Realty.

The plots would become an extension of the group’s ongoing Signature Island project at BKC, comprising high-end luxury apartments. Jet Airways then said it intended to develop its global headquarters at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

Joint development

“We are now looking for partners, to develop two lakh sq metres, who will be able to realise money through rentals for a concession period of 20 to 25 years,” said Mr Mhaiskar.

At the current juncture, it makes more sense not to sell off the land and enter contracts, where rentals during the concession period would enable partners to meet the cost and hand over the property to MMRDA later, he said.

Record high

Last year, property prices in Mumbai touched a record high when the Wadhwa Group bid Rs 5.04 lakh a sq metre for a 7,107-sq metre commercial plot at the Bandra-Kurla complex.

And as the slowdown enveloped the realty sector, Jet Airways turned out to be the lone bidder for the commercial space.

There were no takers for another commercial plot of 28,000 sq metres and for a 6,420-sq metre plot earmarked for a residential clubhouse, though there were 18 bidders in the residential segment.

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