Industrialist Nusli Wadi one of the top five private landowners of Mumbai has put on the block around 20 acres of land in the Western suburbs of Malad. These land parcels belong to the F E Dinshaw Charities and F E Dinshaw Trust of which Wadia is the administrator and are heavily encroached by slums.
The billionaire businessman and Chairman of Wadia Group recently invited bids to sell these lands through open tenders on an ‘as is’ where is and as is what is’ basis. Experts pointed out that such as sale can seriously devalue prime properties.
The intention is to sell of these parcels to anyone interested in redeveloping the slums. Slum redevelopment is not for the faint-hearted. Big developers in Mumbai generally stay away from slum rehousing schemes. Such projects are messy because developers must deal with slumlords, goans and politicians said a property market source.
The tender of sale of the F. E. Dinshaw land announced in early November has set a reserve price at 25% of the ready reckoner rate which according to some land valuers translates into roughly Rs 100 crores.
The three plots up for sale include a 44, 852 sq m land owned by F E Dinshaw Charities and 29,935 sq m and 9,931 sq plots owned by F E Dinshaw Trust. All three aggregates to around 20 acres and are situated in the village Malad (E), Taluka Borivali. These parcels are sought to be sold along with the encroachments. In 2015 a slum authority survey revealed the Nusli Wadia-controlled F E Dinshaw Trust held 683 acres in Malad/Kanheri areas.
