Its land holdings are its primary source of revenue. But the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority [MMRDA] does not have enough of land. So, to boost its earnings, the MMRDA has moved various proposals of land acquisition across
the Mumbai Metropolitan
Region [MMR]. State chief secretary JP Dange will hold a meeting with all officials concerned on Monday to give the acquisition process a fillip.
For the past five years, the MMRDA has been identifying plots in various parts of the MMR that would go to create its land bank.
“We are planning to acquire land as we wish to carry out infrastructure projects for the development of the region. The MMRDA has sent in as many as 17 proposals for solid waste management projects and 21 proposals for growth centres. And to implement them, we need land. The process is a bit time-consuming. Hopefully, our meeting with the chief secretary on Monday would generate the much-needed momentum,” MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad told DNA.
A total of 6464.80 hectare has already been identified by the land department of MMRDA. Of it, 371.34 hectare would be used for solid waste management projects. The authority also wants to create a land bank of 3356.17 hectare throughout the region.
“Our land holdings in Mumbai are exhausting by the day. We need more land, which are now available only with the state government and a few private developers in the MMR. By acquiring them, we intend to create growth centres similar to the Bandra-Kurla Complex [BKC],” Gaikwad added.
The MMRDA has already sent proposals to the state government, seeking to extend the boundaries of the BKC and the Wadala truck terminal, which belongs to a special planning authority. It has also come out with proposals to acquire 16 sites in the city for metro and monorail projects.
Senior MMRDA officials said that they had done their part by putting across the proposals. But now, for the plans to materialise properly, top state government officials would have to back their proposals.
