MUMBAI: The Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA) has received more than 200 inquiries for the 28 plots it plans to lease along Mumbai’s eastern waterfront. The last date to respond to the Expression of Interest (EoI) is October 15.
Under the plan, the MbPA intends to lease these plots for 30 years, for commercial and industrial purposes, with preference being given to government organisations. The plots, including warehouses at Sassoon Dock, currently in the eye of a storm, will earn MbPA an estimated ₹814.04 crore in revenue annually.
The port authority, one of Mumbai biggest land owners, had floated the EoI in August, fixing September as the deadline for responses. Since it had received only ten responses by then, it extended the deadline to October 15.
MbPA chairperson N Angamutthu said, “We have received more than 200 inquiries for the plots.’’
The port authority’s plan to lease 28 plots on 215 acres has effectively buried a transformative plan finalised in 2018 to unlock the unused potential of 966 hectares of port land along the eastern coast. It aimed to revitalise the 28-km stretch from Colaba to Wadala, creating world-class public amenities and open spaces in a city bursting at its seams.
The MbPA’s plan to lease plots along this stretch, many of them sea-facing and strictly for non-residential purposes, has drawn criticism from urban planners. These plots will be allotted for industrial and commercial use, based on the highest premium quoted by the applicant over and above the reserve price through e-tender-cum-e-auction, says the document.