Govt to develop MPT land on its own

17 Feb 2016

The plan to develop over 1,000 acres owned by Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) on the east coast of land-starved Mumbai is gathering momentum and the government is planning to develop it on its own, said Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping.

"We are not going to give any of Mumbai Port Trust's land parcel to private builders for development, we'll do it ourselves. We are currently discussing the plan with international consultants," Gadkari said.

Under the proposed plan, the government is looking to develop 3-4 towers exclusively for financial institutions, a convention centre, marina, entertainment zone and cruise terminal, etc.

"Lots of ideas are there, we are working on a plan to take this further. We are also discussing it with the government of Maharashtra. We will start on this as early as possible," he said.

While speaking to a private gathering at Edelweiss India Conference, the minister also detailed the government's plan to develop around 1,300 islands of India into tourist destinations. According to Gadkari, several global insurance companies are keen to invest in Indian infrastructure space. However, the currency hedging needed for these investments is acting as a challenge since it will add to the cost.

Apart from this, the government is planning to build 150-200 ring roads across key cities and develop logistic parks next to these, Gadkari said adding the country's tourism industry has huge potential yet to be tapped and this will lead to good amount of job creation.

Among other plans, he added that the government's ambitious Sagarmala project will cover 12 key ports across India. Under this project, the government is aiming to develop port infrastructure along the country's 7,500 km coastline.