A parcel of land close to the Bandra-Kurla commercial hub in Mumbai has been put up for sale again by the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA). The reserve price of the 45,371-square-metre plot was last pegged at Rs 3,960 crore.
This is the fourth attempt by RLDA, the nodal agency for development of railway land in the country, to sell the land.
It has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from companies to develop the prime land. The last date for receiving EoIs is February 28, after which a new reserve price will be announced.
The land authority had put the auctioning on hold earlier as the deputy commissioner of the area claimed part ownership of the land. “The dispute with local authorities had been partly solved. We hope to resolve it completely soon,” said a senior official from RLDA.
In its previous attempt to sell the land in 2008, RLDA had cut the reserve price of the plot by nearly 14 per cent to the current Rs 3,960 crore. It also reduced the minimum networth requirement by similar margins in a bid to perk up the interest of bidders.
Though developers such as DLF, Unitech, Parsvnath and Indiabulls expressed interest in the project, they backed out as the reserve price was considered too high given the slowdown in the real estate.
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Earlier, the authority had more than trebled the reserve price of the plot to Rs 4,628 crore, on the grounds that extra development could be done on the land due to relaxed norms.
The state government had increased the floor space index to 4 and a developer could build up to 150,000 sq metres, or 1.6 million sq ft, of space.
The reserve price, eligibility criteria and other conditions were again set to change, said a senior RLDA official.
On two other occasions in the past, the RLDA failed to continue with the auctioning of the plot due to slowdown in the real estate sector and change in development plans.
“We hope that this time it goes through,” the RLDA official said.
Developers are keenly watching the reserve price to be announced by RLDA, which will determine their bid. “Last time, the reserve price was too high. Given the oversupply in the Mumbai market, we have to see the reserve price and take a call,” said Rajeev Talwar, executive director of DLF, the country’s largest developer.