New developer for Mahim depot

After the Kurla bus depot, Mumbai-based Kanakia group is set to redevelop Mahim bus station, reports Naresh Kamath.

After the Kurla bus depot, Mumbai-based Kanakia group is set to redevelop Mahim bus station.

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Sources said Delhi-based Parsvnath Group, which had bagged the project for Rs 32.32 crore in 2007, will hand over the redevelopment rights to Kanakia Spaces for a price exceeding Rs 50 crore.

Senior officials at Parsvnath said that a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed soon. Vishal Doshi, head of marketing at Kanakia Spaces did not deny the deal, but refused to comment.

This is the second deal between both parties. The first was the redevelopment of the 7.7-acre Kurla bus depot, which is said to have fetched Parsvnath more than Rs 250 crore.

The Parsvanath Group had acquired the right to redevelop the one-acre plot Mahim bus depot under the Brihanmumbai Electric and Suburban Transport (BEST) undertaking’s scheme of exploiting its surplus area commercially and modernising its infrastructure.

The plot was leased to Parsvnath for 30 years. The developer planned to revamp the depot and build premium residential apartments on a part of the plot within 24 months. The group, however, did not begin work on the project saying that the brothers owning Aram Restaurant, which is located at the bus depot’s entrance, were involved in a legal battle and redevelopment was difficult unless the restaurant was demolished.

The BEST has feigned ignorance about the deal. “We have not been intimated of any such transactions,” said A.S. Tamboli, chief spokesperson, BEST. “Even the Aram hotel litigation case is over now.”

The BEST’s unions claim the deal is illegal. “It lacks transparency and only shows that some private developers are making profits at our expense,” said Sharad Rao, general secretary, BEST Workers’ Union. “The BEST undertaking should oppose this.”