Maharashtra govt to float bids for leasing ST bus depot land at around 150 locations next month: Transport Minister
MSRTC owns over 13,000 acres of ST bus depot land across Mumbai, including Kurla and Borivali, as well as other towns in the state
The Maharashtra government will invite bids next month to lease land at 150 locations owned by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) for ST bus depots, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said at the inauguration of HOMETHON 2025, a property exhibition organised by NAREDCO Maharashtra.
The minister said tenders would be floated for the long-term development of bus depots across the state on 98-year leases, structured as an initial 49-year term extendable by another 49 years. He made the announcement at the opening of the fourth edition of HOMETHON 2025, a three-day property exhibition being held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai.
"MSRTC has over 13,000 acres of land parcels at strategic locations in Mumbai's Kurla, Borivali and also other towns of the state. In order to develop these lands and the bus depots, the government has decided that these bus depots will be given on a long-term lease of 98 years by increasing the period from the earlier 30 years," Sarnaik said.
"These ST bus depots will be developed as Bus Ports, the way they have been developed in Gujarat," he said.
Sarnaik called for the state's real estate developers to participate in the tenders to develop these ST Bus Depots.
In February 2025, during NAREDCO NextGen in Mumbai, Sarnaik had said that the government would float 150 to 160 tenders to develop over 3,000 acres of MSRTC bus depot land and had appointed architect Hafeez Contractor to design a plan for utilising the land parcels.
Pod taxis in BKC, Mira Road and Thane
Sarnaik said the state government’s Pod Taxi project will soon launch in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and expand to other parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), including Mira-Bhayandar and Thane.
GST rates to help reduce the cost of affordable housing projects
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Niranjan Hiranandani, chairman of NAREDCO India, said, “The real estate sector is estimated to grow at 12%, but in reality, it is expected to expand by 15%, marking unprecedented growth. Additionally, the GST relief on cement and bricks will help reduce the cost of affordable housing.”
Also Read: Mumbai real estate market in 2024: Here are the top 5 land deals worth more than ₹2,500 crore
He added that the development of 300 km of Metro lines will transform commuting in Mumbai and significantly boost the real estate sector.
"We will have 300 kms of Metro completed in the next four years. The increased rail and metro connectivity, upcoming second and the third airports and a port surrounding MMR, will boost the prospects of the real estate sector." He also cited the need for further ease of doing business, reduction in development charges and other reforms to support the sector."
"The real estate sector needs to work harder to uplift the affordable housing segment, so that the vision of 'Housing for All' is accomplished,” said Rajan Bandelkar, vice chairman, NAREDCO India
