BEST to change reservation of prime Altamount Road plot, invites bids for long lease

BMC seeks public input on modifying a BEST plot for residential use while a wing has been leased to Reliance. BEST aims to generate revenue amid losses.

MUMBAI: Even as the BMC, through a public notice, is seeking suggestions and objections to the modification of a BEST plot reservation at Altamount Road to a residential zone, a BEST official told HT that the C Wing of the plot, housing BEST staff quarters and a receiving substation, had been given out on a 30-year lease with the option of extension for another 30 years. BEST Sources in the know said that the wing had been taken over by Sikka Ports and Terminals Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries.

The plot houses two five-storey buildings with 35 flats for officers (Hindustan Times)

The C Wing is a smaller building of eight flats which was almost unoccupied by staff. Sources said that it shared a boundary wall with Antillia, Mukesh Ambani’s residence. HT reached out to Reliance Industries for a comment but got no response till the time of going to press.

While the C Wing has been given on lease, BEST has plans to convert a 2,475.07-sq m plot into a residential zone for third-party bidders, for which it has invited suggestions and objections from the public up to January 13. This plot houses the A and B wings, each a five-storey building with 35 flats for officers. The lessee will also be allowed to redevelop the property in case the BMC certifies the need for the same during the lease period, the document states.

Also on the plot is a receiving substation, a key part of the power grid that takes high-voltage electricity from the main transmission lines and transforms it to usable voltages for distribution to homes, offices and other consumers. The receiving substation on the Altamount Road plot helps BEST supply power to over 100,000 consumers in parts of Malabar Hill, Nepean Sea Road, Altamount Road and Cumballa Hill.

“The receiving substation is critical infrastructure that helps us supply electricity to over 100,000 consumers. There is no clarity on where it will be shifted. Also, this is public government land that is being leased out to private companies,” said a BEST official.

A tender inviting bids from parties interested in leasing the flats was floated last week, with ₹263 crore as the base price for leasing all 35 flats for a 30-year period. The public notice states, “The BEST has initiated the tender process to lease its existing staff quarters to third parties for residential use in order to generate non fare box revenue.”

BEST, once hailed as the best road public transport system in the country, has been cash-strapped for years and bereft of support from the administration. In October, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis directed it to ensure that it generated at least “40% non-fare box revenue” and not depend entirely on the state government and the BMC for funding.

The decision to lease out the staff quarters comes at a time when BEST’s cumulative losses have mounted to ₹9,500 crore. The utility had, earlier this year, made public its plans to lease out land at all 27 bus depots across the city, hoping to raise at least ₹10,000 crore.