Parsvnath may bid for Mumbai's BKC plot

Parsvnath Developers is one of at least three Indian developers considering bids for land facing Citigroup Inc.'s office in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla area, undeterred by the city doubling the reserve price.

"As a large real estate developer we will evaluate the bid,'' B P Dhaka, chief operating officer of Parsvnath Developers, said from New Delhi. Wadhwa Builders and Orbit Corp. also said they are considering taking part in the sale.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is offering plots for office space at a reserve price of Rs 300,000 ($7,600) a square meter (11 square feet).

Reliance Industries, India's most valuable company, paid that much last year, double the Rs 150,000 reserve price at the time, for a similar site.

Prices for office space in Mumbai have more than doubled in the past three years to about Rs 28,000 a square foot as of September 30, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc. data.

The city is home to India's two main stock exchanges, the country's main trading centers for diamond and bullion, apart from the Hindi- language mainstream film industry, also known as Bollywood.

With more of the financial industry moving to the area, Bandra-Kurla in the northern part of the city is expected to emerge as a commercial hub rivalling Nariman Point in south Mumbai.

"The area will become the country's main financial hub in a few years,'' said Ravi Kiran Aggarwal, chairman of Orbit Corp. in Mumbai. "We will ask the Orbit board to consider'' bidding.

Driving demand for office space is the nation's $906 billion economy that grew an average 8.6 per cent in the past four years to March 31, according to central bank data.

Mumbai is offering two plots each for offices and housing, and one for sports-related activities, the development agency said in tenders posted on its website yesterday.