Mumbai - Green Spaces vs. Property Development

Court ruling to trigger building bonanza in space-starved Mumbai

MUMBAI, March 7, 2006 (AFP) - India's Supreme Court Tuesday approved a retail and office plan for a sprawling set of abandoned textile mills in Mumbai that was seen as a blow to groups that had called for green spaces.

Developers won an appeal to the country's highest court over their purchase of textile mills that have laid empty for about 15 years in the center of Mumbai, India's financial and commercial capital.

The ruling is expected to trigger construction of shopping malls, cinemas and office space on the 600-acre site bringing rich returns to developers in the peninsula city on the Arabian Sea that has some the highest property prices in the world.

Mumbai is home to almost 20 million people who scramble for housing and office space because of World War II-era laws that have kept rental prices low and dissuade new construction.

One company DLF, which spent more than 150 million dollars to buy 17 acres of land, hailed the decision and said it would help high-end retailers secure space in the city after being blocked out because of a lack of shop space.

"We will be building for high end retail outlets who today don't have any opportunity to have places outside of five star hotels," said DLF spokesman Vijay Vancheswar. "It's a good decision."

But environmentalists said the decision, which over-turned a lower court that would have halted some of the development, meant the city had lost out on the opportunity for new green spaces and low-cost housing.

"This means the city loses 200 acres of green spaces and 200 acres that could have been used for low-cost housing," said Debi Goenka of the Bombay Environmental Action Group.

The group had attempted to block the sales of some 25 mills spread over 600 acres in prime locations of the city by the National Textile Corporation for real estate development. The total site was estimated to be worth more than 50 billion rupees (1.12 billion dollars).

Mukesh Mehta, the architect of a plan to get rid of slums in Mumbai by 2020, however said the decision would create a new property hotspot in the city.

"It's a good thing. This will now become a very bubbling area and another major business area of Mumbai," Mehta said.

"We have crazy property prices and we have to rejuvenate Mumbai. This will become the new development area of Mumbai.">