The Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) has plans to come up with more floatels (floating hotels) and floating restaurants along the city's coast if the pilot project it's working on proves to be a success.
The Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) has plans to come up with more floatels (floating hotels) and floating restaurants along the city's coast if the pilot project it's working on proves to be a success.
Which projects is MbPT currently working on?
Earlier this month, MbPT had invited bids from private parties for two projects. As per plans, a floatel with a capacity of 500 rooms will be anchored around 1.5 km from Ferry Wharf. On the other hand, a floating restaurant with a capacity of 250 people will be anchored off Girgaum Chowpatty. Both floating facilities will be either three-star set ups or above. The last date of submission of bids is February 26.
MbPT's chairman Ravi Parmar told dna, "At the moment, the floatel and floating restaurant planned will be high end, and the price of the services and facilities available inside will be for the luxury segment."
Why didn't it take off last year?
"If the project is successful, MbPT will earn good revenue that can be useful for betterment of other facilities," said Parmar. Last July, MbPT had invited bids for the same purpose and nearly a dozen shipping related businesses responded. However, they wanted authorities to reduce the rental or revenue sharing per cent, which resulted in project not talking off last year.
Can the common man afford this facility?
"If response is good and there is healthy number of people going for it, we may even think of having a more affordable floating restaurant for the public where facilities are available at reasonable rates so that people from varying income groups also can afford it," added Parmar.
How many such projects is MbPT planning?
The future plan is to have two floatels, one on each coast of Mumbai, that is off Ferry Wharf and Marine Drive. In all the plan is to have four floating restaurants catering to different income segments and tourists. One each of these will be anchored off Ferry Wharf, Gateway of India and two at Marine Drive. However, tourists and Mumbaikars will not be able to visit these spots during monsoon due to rough sea conditions.
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