Mumbai Real Estate Receives a Boost from Railways

It was the defunct mill properties first, followed by Dharavi, and now it’s the railways. The city’s meagre land resources are slowly beginning to swell, as sprawling tracts of under-utilised land are being made available for real
estate projects in Mumbai.

The Railways are planning to free up its commercial
properties in Mumbai in a phased manner in Bandra, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and Mumbai
Central which add up to 750 acres.

In Bandra, the railways propose to develop 2 lakh sq. ft which would
contribute almost Rs.6000 crore to its exchequer.Private developers
in Mumbai would participate in the projects, who are waiting for the Maharashtra
Government’s approval for a floor space index (FSI) of 4, up from the current
index of 1.5
The FSI pertains to the ratio of the total floor area of the buildings
to the size of the land.

A FSI of 4 will enable the railways to construct more floors on these
properties. A 20-floor commercial property in Bandra has been envisaged,
creating 2 lakh feet of commercial space.

As per the plan, the Railways would profit by Rs.100,000 crore over
the next two years from this divestment, and deploy the funds in the
Mumbai Urban Transport Plan to link the suburban network estimated to cost
Rs.5,000 crore.