Indu Mill land transfer conflict still unresolved

Five months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Dr Ambedkar memorial at Indu Mill, the land transfer conflict between the Centre and the state has not ended.

The Centre has not agreed with the compensation of Rs 1,413 crore offered by the state and has also put a condition that Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) of the land be used in the island city only. As per the development rules, TDR cannot be used in the island city.

The issue came up after a meeting held on Wednesday of Republican Party of India leaders Avinash Mahatekar, Jogendra Kawade and Sulekha Kumbhare headed by social justice minister Rajkumar Badole in Mantralaya.

Disagreeing with the valuation report of the land made by the state government’s sub-committee, the Centre has pointed out flaws in the process. “The valuation is based on the government’s instructions to assume that the plot can be bifurcated in CRZ and non-CRZ which was not placed before the sub-committee,” a letter by the ministry of textiles to the state government dated April 19 said. The Indu Mill land comes under National Textile Corporation.

The state government has offered FSI of 1.33 for the development of the land, which was also refused by the NTC. “The report considers the valuation for residential purpose only and allows the minimum FSI 1.33 which cannot be considered as fair and reasonable when the land after bifurcation can be used for many purposes such as hospital, star category hotels, IT park etc with higher FSI,” the letter said.

The valuation report considers surrender of Mhada and MCGM share from this land only where as NTC having several places of land in Mumbai would be able to integrate this mill land with other mill lands and can surrender the land from other mill lands maximising the value. “Government of Maharashtra should allow NTC to utilise the TDR so accrued anywhere in Mumbai, including the island city. The TDR offered to the NTC should be in saleable form without any encumbrance or condition,” the letter said.

Indu Mill land is located at Shivaji Park, Dadar in central Mumbai and is spread over 5.23 lakh square feet. The sea-facing plot falls under the Coastal Regulatory Zone and the market value of the plot in the area is around Rs 30,000 per square foot. The state has offered Rs 1,413 crore for the plot where the memorial of Dr Ambedkar will be set up. Mr Modi had laid foundation stone for the memorial in October last year.