Hindustan Times 09.02.2010
Shrinking 101-floor tower down to 80?
The planned 101-floor tower at Wadala just got shorter.
Faced with an unresponsive real-estate market, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which is building the tower, has decided to scale it down to 80 floors.
The MMRDA had initially planned to build the tower on 35 hectares of land at Wadala, spread on a 5.6 lakh sq mtr plot, with a minimum height of 530 mtr. In May 2009, the agency had called for joint bids to build the tower along with an Inter-State Bus Terminal, both to be built at Rs 4,128 crore, on a design-build-own-operate-transfer basis.
Three bids came in: Australian firm Hyder Consulting, Essar Realty along with a Dubai-based firm, and Reliance Infrastructure along with a Chinese partner. However, MMRDA is reportedly unhappy with the offers it has got so far, and has decided to call for fresh bids for the project.
To make the project more attractive – and therefore financially viable — the agency has also delinked the two projects — the bus terminal project is now pegged at Rs 300 crore.
MMRDA officials now working on the revised draft for the tower tender have also decided to lower the minimum height of the tower, from the earlier 530 mtr to a minimum of 300 mtr.
MMRDA has also scaled down the size of the area available for the tower, from 5.6 lakh sq mtr to 4.9 lakh sq mtr.
“We are working on fresh tenders for the project. Rather than aim for a 101-storey project, we are stipulating that the tower be a minimum of 80 floors,” a senior MMRDA official said on condition of anonymity.
MMRDA had earlier expected revenues of Rs 1,800 crore every year as rent, from space leased out in the tower.
