In Nariman Point, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) has postponed its plan of leasing the 4.2-acre tract of land for real estate development.
MMRCL officials did not explain the decision’s explanation, but the sources identified that there could possibly have been “technical issues” which led to the delay. After resolving these issues, the company is probably going to reissue the RFP.
On October 3, 2024, MMRCL issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the development of the property. But the firm announced the RFP’s withdrawal in an announcement that was made public on Saturday.
It was expected that the leasing plan was going to take advantage of the land’s excellent location and great development potential and generate at least Rs 51.73 billion. The 4.2-acre land has a feasible construction size of 16 lakh square feet, with also including 1,13,500 square feet allotted for rehab.
Since the area’s advancement in the 1970s, this withdrawn RFP was the first attempt to auction off the renowned Nariman Point plot. The property has a ton of potential for mixed-use developments, such as luxury houses, offices and even for hospitals.
RMZ Group, Tata Group, Oberoi Realty, and Blackstone Group are among the major real estate companies that showed interest in placing bids for the lease. Knight Frank India was also hired by MMRCL to act as the auction’s transaction advisor.
Political parties including Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena operated offices on the property in the recent past. After being vacated and had them renovated the site was used for the development of the Vidhan Bhavan metro station, that is a part of the Colaba-Seepz Metro Line 3 project, which covers 33 kilometers. In 2017, following complaints by environmental activists, MMRCL was awarded the land as compensation for abandoning commercial development on a portion of the Aarey Car Depot property.
The lease’s proceeds were to be used to pay back loans, specially those from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and to also finance ongoing metro developments. The RFP included extra provisions that allowed participation from alternative investment funds and abroad bidders in an attempt to bring in interest from across the world.
After all the basic issues are fixed, MMRCL is going to review the lease plan and may issue a new RFP in the upcoming weeks.