The Supreme Court today paved the path for the development of 600 acres of mill land in Mumbai by setting aside a Mumbai High Court judgment that had held that the sale of surplus lands of five NTC mills was contrary to the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) scheme and apex court order.The Supreme Court held that the sale of surplus land by National Textile Corporation was legal.There are 58 mills in Mumbai spread over 600 acres. NTC owns 25 of these mills out of which five have already been sold and two have been set aside to create open spaces. One mill in the city is owned by Maharashtra State Textile Corporation. Of the 32 privately owned mills, developments are underway in 23 mills.According to industry estimates, the cumulative development potential of the cotton textile mill lands alone in the city is to the tune of 60 million sqare feet. The five mills sold by NTC are expected to release around 3 million square feet into the market in the next three to four years.Developments on private mill lands, which were suspended in the wake of the public interest litigation petition filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) and the subsequent Bombay High Court judgment, are set to resume soon.Rajeev Piramal, vice-chairman of Morarjee Realty, said: "We are resuming work on all three of our on-going projects -- the technology park at Kurla and the residential developments at Parel and Sewri. We will also approach the corporation with our plans for Dawn Mills in a couple of weeks."Gagan Banga of Indiabulls, which bought the Jupiter and Elphinstone Mills, said that the two mill lands would be developed as commercial properties and had already filed their plans with the city authorities. "We hope to complete these projects in two years," Banga said.NTC is now planning to approach the civic authorities for clearances on the integrated development plans it had filed for 25 of its mills. O P Agarwal, managing director NTC North Maharashtra said, "As soon as we get a certified copy of the judgment, we will approach the civic authorities for clearances on the 25 mills that are slated for sale." This will bring into the market a further 136 acres with a development potential estimated at Rs 5,000 crore, he said.The buyers of NTC Mills now can proceed with their plans. Vijay Vancheshwar of DLF Properties, which bought the 16 acre Mumbai Mills for a record Rs 702 crore, said: "We can now proceed with our plans to develop the property as a premium family entertainment and retail centre. The judgment also encourages us to explore possibilities of further investments in Mumbai."He indicated that the group was also considering buying more mill lands when they came up for sale.Today's ruling is expected to stablise realty prices in the city in the short-term. The prices have been spiralling in the last few months given the uncertainty over the availability of the mill lands for development. Developers and consultants estimate that the current upward spiral will stablise at least for the mill land area with the assurance of further supply coming into the market in the next three to four years.Niranjan Hiranandani of Hiranandani Constructions said: "This will be good for the real estate market in the city as a large amount of housing, commercial and retail developments will come into the market now. It will also strike a positive note with the investors who were wary of investing in the city as well as encourage foreign investors."Anuj Puri, managing director of Trammel Crow Meghraj, a real estate consultancy firm, said: "The impact of the judgment will also be felt in the residential segments as not all mills will be viable as commercial properties. Mills which are not located on the main roads are more likely to come up as residential property as we will see a spurt in both commercial and residential properties in the mill area."Added Kekoo Colah, executive director at another real estate consultancy farm Knight Frank, "The judgment has struck a positive note with the assured supply of land coming into the market for development and help stablise prices. Also in upholding the 2001 amendment to DCR 58, the court created a feeling of clarity and consistency that the law of the land will be upheld."
