MMRDA asks govt to transfer public land across Mumbai to it for monetizing them

CONTINUING THE trend of monetizing public land parcels to shore up revenue, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is planning to send a proposal to the Maharashtra government requesting all vacant government land parcels in the MMR be transferred to it. Through it, the MMRDA has vowed it will protect the parcels from encroachment, monetize by selling or leasing them, and thus develop them.

Sighting precedence in other development organisations like Pune and Nagpur, the idea received a positive response at the 160th MMRDA meeting on Monday chaired by Deputy Chief Minister and Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde.

Approving the budget, the idea was floated in the interest of generating a steady cash flow for the authority which is working on multiple infrastructure projects in the region. “One of the key ways for a project to be financially viable is by capturing the land value of the surrounding area the project is serving,” said a senior MMRDA official. “The revenue land across the MMR can be used to ensure the MMRDA’s projects stay financially viable and our finances remain one step ahead,” he said.