Kalbadevi cloth market to shift to Bandra-Kurla

The decision puts an end to the bitter row between the cloth merchants and the state government over the price of the new market premises at the complex. While the traders were demanding a rebate, the government was insisting on the prevailing market price. “Now, we have arrived at a figure which is acceptable to both the sides,” the minister said. He, however, refused to elaborate on the deal.

The minister also said that the government had identified several plots for setting up transit camps under the slum re-development(SRD) scheme.

Admitting that the SRD scheme had suffered a `temporary setback’ following the crash in the real estate prices, he said measures were being taken to put it back on the rails. “The government has stepped in to solve the problem of transit camps,” said Purohit, adding that plots belonging to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) at Malad, Santacruz, Mankhurd and Borivli would be soon released for the construction of these camps.

By the first week of April, the government plans to set up one lakh transit houses. An equal number of houses will be constructed subsequently under the SRD scheme within nine months of setting up of the transit camps, the minister added.

Purohit used the occasion to invite the Belgian delegation to interact with the state officials and explore opportunities for investment. He said the state had set aside over Rs 15,000 crore for infrastructure development. The government has plans to build 34 flyovers in Mumbai and around 54 in otherperipheral areas.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of the Government of Flanders for Public Works, Belgium, Eddy Baldewins, said that the exports accounted for 85 per cent of the gross regional product in Flanders with more than four-fifths of the total output exported.

For this, Flander’s Export Promotion Agency (FEPA) has set up a worldwide network of trade representatives to give maximum support to exports and foreign trade.

The region of Flanders is the northern, Dutch-speaking area in the federal kingdom of Belgium, representing 44 per cent of the nation’s territory and around 60 per cent of the population.