BMC to Lease 15-Acre Mulund Dumping Ground Plot for Dharavi Redevelopment Project
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to lease a 15-acre plot at the erstwhile Mulund dumping ground in Mumbai to set up a ready-mix concrete plant and casting yard for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project. The proposal, initiated in February this year, is expected to be presented to the BMC's Improvement Committee for approval later this month for a proposed five-year lease.
The land will be leased to Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited (NMDPL), a special purpose vehicle jointly owned by the Adani Group and the Maharashtra government, which is executing the Dharavi redevelopment.
Under the proposal, the BMC expects to generate approximately Rs 103.47 crore in revenue over the five-year lease period. The lease rent has been fixed at Rs 252 per square metre. NMDPL will pay an advance of Rs 9.17 crore, equivalent to the first six months of rent, followed by monthly payments of Rs 1.52 crore, with a 6 per cent rent hike every six months.
However, NMDPL will also clear the remaining waste mound at the Mulund site, which is estimated to cost Rs 20 crore over 14 months. This cost will be adjusted against the lease rentals, bringing the BMC's net revenue from the lease to around Rs 83 crore.
According to BMC documents, NMDPL approached the civic body in February seeking the lease. Since the BMC did not have immediate plans for the land, the administration decided to lease the plot to generate revenue and support the construction activities of the Dharavi project.
The 24-acre Mulund dumping ground operated from 1968 to 2018 until the Bombay High Court directed the BMC to close and remediate the landfill. Since then, the civic body has biomined nearly 50 lakh metric tonnes of the site's 80 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste. Although biomining reached 90 per cent completion by February, the work subsequently stalled.
Unlike the Deonar landfill, where the BMC previously handed over 124 acres to NMDPL to build rehabilitation housing for 50,000 to one lakh people from Dharavi, the Mulund land parcel will be used strictly for construction infrastructure, specifically the casting yard and ready-mix concrete plant.
