The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has invited expressions of interest (EoI) from consultants to prepare a detailed plan to create a business centre in Wadala after Nariman Point and Bandra-Kurla Complex. The agency hopes to finalise a consultant for the development of the 109.3-hectare plot in Wadala in six months and prepare the plan by the year-end. There is a general development plan for the area,but a detailed masterplan has to be prepared, said D Sampathkumar,chief of the town and country planning division,MMRDA. We also want to have block-wise architectural control of the entire area so that it gets its own identity. The development authority has asked consultants to submit the EoIs by January 31 and plans to give the selected consultant four months to submit the report. The area will continue to house the truck terminal in over 19.6 hectares,an extension of 8.7 hectares and the inter-state bus terminal in another 4.5 hectares which constitute about 30 per cent of the total 109.3 hectares. The draft planning proposal of MMRDA says about 25 per cent of the area is occupied by salt pans or falls under protected forest areas. As of now,the authority has sold just one plot in the proposed commercial district for Rs 4,053 crore to Lodha Developers.
