MMRDA bid to generate Rs 100 cr from TDR falls flat

Over a month back,it had invited bids for 34,045 sq metres of TDR stock at a reserve price of Rs 3,000 per sq ft,almost Rs 500 less than prevailing rates. Even the minimum bid would have fetched the MMRDA a hefty Rs 109.93 crore.

Divine Investments,Anik Development Corporation (Ajmera Realty),Neelkanth Mansion Infrastructure and Golani Brothers Civil Engineers & Contractors had purchased tender documents but none put up any offer.

Like slum TDR generated by private developers who rehabilitate slum dwellers,the MMRDA gets construction TDR from the municipal corporation in return for constructing tenements for people displaced by various infrastructure projects. This TDR can be sold to private developers who can use it to construct upto 100 per cent more in addition to the permissible Floor Space Index (FSI) of their project. The TDR can only be used in the suburbs,either in the same civic ward or in any plot to the north of the place where it was generated. “The TDR we put up for sale was generated through construction of tenements in Goregaon. Being a prime area,we expected decent offers. However the state government’s recent decision to allow extra FSI in the suburbs seems to have played the dampener with no one coming forward to purchase the TDR,” said an MMRDA official.

The TDR demand had momentarily shot up after the Bombay High Court in June quashed a two-year-old state government decision allowing 33 per cent extra FSI in the suburbs. The verdict was nullified on September 8,when the state cabinet amended the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act and increased the base FSI in the suburbs by 33 per cent once again decreasing developers’ dependence on TDR. The cabinet decision has cost MMRDA several hundred crores it could have got over a period of time through sale of almost 1 lakh sq metres of TDR stock available with it.