 "Mumbai Port to float global tender for development of land")
Mumbai Port will be floating a global tender to appoint a project management and implementation consultant for preparing a master plan for developing its land. It is the country’s largest port.
“Till now, the plans that have been made are general. We do not have a detailed master plan enlisting where to build a road, a marina or a restaurant. I need to appoint a consultant for that,” recently appointed chairman Sanjay Bhatia of the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) told reporters on Monday. Bhatia said there were a slew of challenges for implementation, with coordination among various authorities the biggest.
“About 1,000 acres of the overall 1,800 acres of the MPT is available for development but this is not contiguous. There are various agencies at both the central and the state levels which deal with various facets, making coordination a key challenge,” he said.
Preparatory work at the port will take up to four months, and the plan should get completed within six months, he said. This will be followed by development of the infrastructure, which shall take between two and four years, Bhatia added.
Suggestions for the land use include gardens, playgrounds, cycling tracks, walkways, marinas, floating restaurants, a metro rail and a Burj Khalifa-like hotel. Alongside, a high-level coordination committee with the Union shipping secretary as chairman and co-chaired by the state chief secretary will be formed, said Bhatia.
For finances, MPT will look at raising money through leasing out part of the land to fund public infrastructure. At least 40 vacant plots could be so leased, he said.
Bhatia, however, made it clear that getting funds either from loans or from some non-governmental organisations or corporate largesse is not a solution. He said a big chunk of the free land is stuck in encroachments by slums and in litigation as people have opposed MPT's decision not to extend leases.
“MPT will not be extending any leases, except those where it does not plan any development like the Apollo Bunder area which houses the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel,” he stated.
MPT will be strengthening its legal team to deal with challenges and also undergo an organisational change to make it possible to work under the current system, said Bhatia. “There is also a need for changing the land use system, as the existing laws provide for usage of the land for only port-related activities,” he added.
Keeping cruise shipping as its focus area, Bhatia said it had been decided to prioritise the passenger berth in the port for hosting such ships. Cargo movement will be limited to the offshore container terminal and the Indira Dock.
