Kharghar plots sold at record price

Despite the current glut in the real estate market, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) managed to sell three commercial plots and one residential one in Kharghar at a record price of Rs79 crore.

In an auction held on Thursday, a plot measuring 4,000 square metre (sqmt) was sold at the rate of Rs1.06 lakh per sqmt, earning Rs42.04 crore; another measuring 1,365sqmt was sold at Rs1.21 lakh per sqmt, fetching Rs16.51 crore; a 555 sqmt commercial plot was sold at Rs1.41 lakh per sqmt earning Rs7.82 crore and a 1,180 sqmt residential one was sold at the rate of Rs1.11 lakh per sqmt, earning Cidco Rs13.13 crore. Buyers can avail floor space index (FSI) of 1.5 in the commercial plots and that of 1 in the residential one.

Real estate experts said that for an area like Kharghar where land was sold at Rs60,000-Rs70,000 per sqmt last year, plots being sold at such prices was unheard of. “There is a glut in the property market now. But even then Cidco has fetched a good deal,” real estate expert from Navi Mumbai, Atul Nemade said.

According to Chandan Lakhani, the owner of Rajesh Developers, the bidders quoted high prices for the plots. “The commercial occupancy rate in Navi Mumbai is very low and beecause of the bad commercial market, most developers here are trying to convert their commercial space into residential ones,” he said.

Recently, City Centre mall in Vashi was demolished due to the lukewarm response it received. “The owner now wants to convert it either into a residential complex or a hotel.
Most of the malls in Navi Mumbai are struggling and incurring losses,” Nemade said.

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