Planning agency may relocate truck terminus

The phenomenal deal the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) got by selling its Wadala plot for Rs 4,050 crore is making the regional body want to exploit its 115 hectares of reserve land left in Wadala.

The phenomenal deal the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) got by selling its Wadala plot for Rs 4,050 crore is making the regional body want to exploit its 115 hectares of reserve land left in Wadala.

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The MMRDA is now seriously considering moving the Wadala Truck Terminus and the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) planned at Wadala, outside the city to commercially exploit land in Wadala.

“The plot we sold fetched us a phenomenal price. It makes sense to exploit the Wadala land that we hold and transform it into a business centre,” a senior MMRDA official said.

A meeting of development authority’s think tank held on May 31 recommended the shifting of the truck terminal to Thane, Borivli or Vashi and the ISBT terminal to Mankhurd. The think tank also said there was potential to earn Rs 1,000 crore every year by developing Wadala as a growth center.

The MMRDA struck gold on May 25 when it managed to lease a 25,000-square-metre plot for Rs 4,050 crore to Lodha builders.

The regional body has another 115 hectares of land in Wadala on which it planned to set up a truck terminus for 4,000 trucks and an Inter-State Bus Depot for passenger buses.

It has already constructed a truck terminus on 9.63 hectares at a cost of Rs 433 crore. It has a capacity of 1,000 trucks.

The MMRDA had recently floated bids for constructing a bigger truck terminus and the Inter-State Bus Terminus but neither tender received any response.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has been forced to extend its bids.