Nita Ambani promises “green lungs” along coastal road

Maintenance of the open spaces will also be the responsibility of RIL for 30 years, extendable by another 30.

MUMBAI: At the Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Friday, Nita Ambani offered a glimpse of what awaits on the 130 acres of reclaimed land from Priyadarshini Park to Worli beside the Coastal Road. Calling it a “green lung for generations to come,” she promised that the Coastal Road gardens would have walkways, cycling tracks, plazas, with trees and flowers in abundance. For more than 70,000 signatories of the petition for a coastal forest along the edge, this assurance of a nature-filled green space came as a reassurance.

Nita Ambani at the Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant Reception at the Jio World Convention Centre in BKC, Mumbai on July 14, 2024. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

Exact details, however, are yet to be revealed.

“A ribbon of green will now hug our city’s edge; a space for every Mumbaikar to catch a breath of fresh air and enjoy magical sunsets by the sea,” said Ambani, painting an idyllic picture. “This is a deeply personal project for me. It is about giving back to a city that has given so much to all Mumbaikars. And it is a responsibility we promise to fulfil with pride and purpose.”

In May, RIL was the only company willing to develop the entire stretch of the reclaimed land along Coastal Road into open green spaces and also maintain the 7.5km long promenade. Additionally, as it was the only company that fit the requirements and had experience in such large-scale development, the civic body handed over this responsibility to RIL. The decision to hand this over to a private company was made to save the civic body an additional expenditure of around ₹400 crore, after spending ₹13,000 crore on the Coastal Road.

Maintenance of the open spaces will also be the responsibility of RIL for 30 years, extendable by another 30.

“We will nurture this space as a living, breathing, and health-promoting gift to Mumbai. The Coastal Road Gardens will stand as a legacy of care for our Mumbai – a symbol of balance between development and environment, between progress and preservation,” said Ambani.

As per a BMC official from the Coastal Road department, nitty-gritty details of the agreement with RIL are still being ironed out, following which the designing of the spaces will begin with full steam.

2000-bed medical city

Reliance Foundation, RIL’s philanthorpic arm, is building a state-of-the-art 2,000-bed medical city in Mumbai, said Ambani on Friday. Calling it a new beacon of healthcare innovation, she said, “AI-powered diagnostics, cutting-edge medical technology, and some of the finest doctors from India and the world will come together to deliver care that meets the best standards anywhere in the world.”