Industrialist Nusli Wadia has placed on the market three land parcels totaling over 20 acres in Malad belonging to the F. E. Dinshaw Trust, of which he is administrator. These lands are heavily encroached on by slums, reported The Times of India (ToI) on December 3, 2022. "Slum development is not for the faint-hearted… Such projects are messy because developers must deal with slumlords, goons and politicians,” a property market source rationalized. The Wadia owned real estate company (Bombay Realty) has chosen to stay away from the sale, the newspaper conveyed.
It was announced in early November that a reserve price has been set at 25% of the ready reckoner rate. ToI reports that some land valuers the newspaper spoke to put the amount at roughly Rs 100 crore (USD 12,085,247). The three plots are sought to be sold along with the encroachments.
"Encroachments and slums have been one of the biggest problems Bombay landlords are struggling to resolve,” Gulam Zia, senior executive director with real estate specialization firm Frank Knight India told ToI. "Highly valuable land parcels are stuck only due to such settlements. A few of the most influential and respected conglomerates have also failed to find a solution. Such players are also wary of hurting their image as these projects tend to turn ugly during the resolution process. An attempt to sell such land parcels on an ‘as is, where is, basis’ can seriously devalue such land parcels,” Zia explained.
S. V.