After allocating a large portion of the Deonar dumping ground for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now planning to lease 15 acres of land at the former Mulund landfill to facilitate construction activities for the ambitious project.
The proposal, which has been under consideration by the civic administration for the past few months, is likely to be placed before the BMC’s Improvement Committee later this month. Through the proposed five-year lease, the civic body expects to earn nearly Rs 103 crore.
The land will be leased to Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited (NMDPL), the special purpose vehicle jointly owned by the Adani Group and the Maharashtra government, which is implementing the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.
Unlike the 124-acre parcel at the Deonar landfill, where rehabilitation housing is being developed for eligible Dharavi residents, the Mulund site will be used to establish a ready-mix concrete (RMC) plant and a casting yard to support construction work.
According to BMC documents, NMDPL approached the civic body in February seeking a five-year lease for the land.
A civic official told The Indian Express, “The BMC did not have any immediate plan for utilising such a large parcel of land. In the meantime, NMDPL approached us seeking the land for setting up a casting yard, following which the administration decided to lease out the plot as a means of generating revenue.”
Under the proposal, lease rent has been fixed at Rs 252 per sq m. NMDPL will make an advance payment of Rs 9.17 crore, equivalent to six months’ rent, followed by monthly payments of Rs 1.52 crore. The rent will increase by 6% every six months, generating an estimated Rs 103.47 crore over five years.
However, NMDPL will also undertake the removal of the remaining waste mound at the Mulund site, an exercise estimated to cost around ₹20 crore over 14 months. This amount will be adjusted against the lease rentals, reducing the BMC’s net revenue to approximately ₹83 crore.
Explaining the arrangement, the official said, “The land is owned by the BMC and has long been used as a conventional landfill. Since the SPV will assume responsibility for clearing the waste and restoring the site to a cleaner and more usable condition, we intend to adjust the lease rent against the cost of remediation. Otherwise, the BMC would have to bear the entire expense, especially as the court has directed us to clear the entire land parcel.”
The 24-acre Mulund landfill operated between 1968 and 2018, after which the Bombay High Court directed the BMC to scientifically close and remediate the site. Since then, nearly 50 lakh metric tonnes of the estimated 80 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste have been cleared through biomining, with the remaining remediation expected to continue over the coming years.
Source: The Indian Express
