[Jai]

MMRDA has a plan to speed up Metro

“ We have no desire to go around with a begging bowl any- more, not even to foreign banks.” T Chandra Shekhar, Metropolitan commissioner

DNA Epaper 29 APR
Smita Deshmukh
Mumbai

Forget the official 2021 deadline. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Develop ment Authority (MM RDA) wants to make all nine corridors of the Rs19,500 crore Metro Rail functional in just over five years.

To make this grand plan possible, the MM RDA will be attempting to self-finance the crucial build-operate transfer (BoT) project.

A new notification, already approved by the state government, would allow the MMR DA to amend the Development Control (DC) rules and increase the Floor Space Index (FSI) in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) from 2 to 4.

This would allow the MMRDA to sell off the remaining 70 acres of land in the area, where 70-metre-high buildings could be erected after the Airports Authority of India revised its height restrictions. Officials say the move could fetch a whopping Rs25,000 crore – more than enough to make the MMRDA self-sufficient to build the Metro Rail. Forget the 2021 deadline. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) wants to have all nine corridors of the Rs19,500 crore Metro Rail functional in just over five years. To make it possible, the MMRDA would be attempting to self-finance the crucial built-operate-transfer (BoT) project.

“Projects like the Metro require massive capital. Moreover, the BoT process quite taxing. So, it is in our best interest to tap the potential of BKC to its fullest and speed up the project,” said Metropolitan Commissioner T Chandrashekhar.

The MMRDA is also looking at other avenues to raise funds. FSI incentive, along with commercial exploitation of land, at the proposed InterState Bus Terminal in Wadala is expected to rake in around Rs2,500 crore.

Also, the MMRDA’s appointment as special planning authority for the proposed growth centres in Bhiwandi and Kalyan will fetch more funds.

Sources said the MMRDA pushed its case for more developable area in the BKC with the state following the approval of FSI 4 for the Dharavi redevelopment project. Another cue was taken from their next-door neighbours — the joint venture of Reliance and Maker Group, who were allowed to increase the height of their buildings from 30 to 70 metre by the AAI.

“We have no desire to go around with a begging bowl anymore, not even to foreign banks which take a long time to process loans and place stringent measures. We can undertake the Metro project on our own and finish it in record time,” said Chandrashekhar.