With the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) tendering to lease three of its prime south Mumbai plots to generate revenue, firms such as Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Godrej, Welspun World, HN Safal, Runway Developers and DB Realty have shown interest. Officials said.
The civic body had earlier in October issued a tender seeking bids from private stakeholders to lease three plots located in Worli, Malabar Hill and Fort.
These plots will be leased out for a period of 30 years and civic officials said the revenue generated will be used to bankroll some of the major infrastructure projects taken up by the BMC in the last five years.
Although the pre-bid meeting for the plot was held on November 12, the BMC has extended the time till December 16 for receiving bids against the tender.
BMC’s tender documents show that eligible companies should have a minimum total turnover of Rs 300 crore and a minimum average net-worth of Rs 150 crore over the last three years.
Meanwhile, in the pre-bid meeting held on November 12, many bidders raised questions about the current condition of these plots.
For example, BEST has a power receiving station at the Malabar Hill plot.
Minutes of the meeting show that L&T raised questions regarding the current status of plot reservation under BMC’s Development Plan (DP) rules and whether the same plot would be developed in open space as per the state government’s directive. .
According to the plan of DP 2034, the subject land is reserved for electricity transmission and distribution facilities. The plot was handed over to BEST in 1989. Hence only auction of relief plot shown as existing facility is proposed,” said the BMC’s reply.
HN Safal, meanwhile, inquired about the current reservation of plots under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). However, the BMC clarified that the said plots do not fall under the CRZ buffer zone.
Besides the Malabar Hill plot, there is a fish market in Fort Platte, while another plant in Worli houses an asphalt plant and BMC’s testing labs.
“So far, these six companies (L&T, Godrej, Welspun World, HN Safa, Runway Developers and DB Realty) have shown their interest in leasing the plots. We have answered the questions raised by them in the pre-bid meeting.
Now the deadline has been extended as we await the final response from prospective bidders to submit their quotations,” said a civic official.
“The deadline for submission of bids has been postponed so that the bidders can analyze the responses of the BMC which have been submitted to them through e-mail,” the official added.