NAGPUR: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has taken possession of the Anand Talkies
land, worth over Rs10 crore. Now, the civic body is trying to finalize
plans for the land as may generate huge revenue for NMC due to its prime
location.

A senior NMC official told TOI that possession of
Anand Talkies land has been taken recently by placing seals on the
structure there. “NMC started the process to valuate the structure
existing on the land. NMC has to pay the cost of the structure to Saroj
Screens Private Ltd, from which the possession was taken. The valuation
of the structure has to be done according to the market value prevailing
in 2009. The process has been initiated according to the directives of
the Supreme Court,” he said.

The official further said that NMC
had asked Saroj Screens Private Ltd to submit the building sanction
plan, which was received a couple of days ago. “NMC’s estate department
will ask the town planning department to decide the valuation of the
structure. Saroj Screens Private Ltd’s letter to the estate department
estimates the cost of the structure at around Rs98 lakh. But the cost
will be paid according to the valuation calculated by our officials,” he
said.

The official also said that the process to decide on the
use of the land has been also started. “Estate department has requested
the public works department (projects) to prepare plans, which will be
finalized after consultation with the municipal commissioner and
standing committee,” he said.

NMC is lucky to get the land back in its possession. It became possible due to the judgement passed by the Supreme Court
on March 26 this year. The Anand Talkies land plot measures 9,300 sqft
and is located on Old Sarai Road, Sitabuldi, one of the costliest
commercial areas of the city.

Member of standing committee
Praful Gudadhe said the location of the land is very crucial as far as
commercial angle is considered. “Since NMC can do whatever it wants with
the land as per the Supreme Court directives, it should not go for
leasing it out. The NMC can reap the benefits by developing a commercial
complex on the land. The FSI in the city in present conditions is 2.5.
NMC can earn hefty revenue and also provide proper commercial services
to citizens,” he said.

NMC had given the land on lease for a period of 30 years on March 17, 1944, to Gopaldas Mohta,
who actually started Anand Talkies. The land was plunged into
controversies due to various changes in the lease and saw several legal
proceedings. Finally, the issue was decided by the Supreme Court, which
asked Saroj Screens Private Ltd to hand over the land to NMC.