No takers for two plots in Bandra-Kurla Complex

A lackluster real estate market seems to have hit the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) with two plots in its G block failing to attract any bidder since March.

On March 8 this year, nodal town planning authority Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) had floated a tender to lease the three plots in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). However, two out of the three plots failed to attract any bidder. According to housing experts, a slowdown in the realty sector is to blame for the situation.

According to the tender document, the first plot has an area of 2961.18 sqmt and a permissible built up area or floor area ratio of 12,000 sqmt; the second has an area of 3,000 sqmt with floor area ratio of 12,000 sqmt and third plot with an area of 12,486 sqmt and floor area ratio of 65,000 sqmt. The last plot was the only one to have found a buyer.

The reserve price for the plots was Rs 3.44 lakh per sqmt on the built-up area. Confirmed that the two plots didn't get any buyer, spokesperson for MMRDA said that fate of the plots will soon be decided by the MMRDA.

According to housing experts, this is not the right time to sell plots. "Many builders want to sell the land parcels they have. Developers themselves are facing trouble to complete the projects that they have undertaken. Then why will they buy new plots? This is not the time when developers would invest in plots," said Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of Liases Foras, a real estate research firm.

Another housing expert says that the reserve price quoted by MMRDA was way higher than the existing market rate because of which the developers didn't turn up or participate in the auction. Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi, a housing expert, said, "Firstly there's not much money in the market. The developers are burdened with the loans they have taken at high interest and are struggling to repay them. Secondly, the rate at which the plots were being auctioned by MMRDA was too high, that's why no one came forward."

Experts Opine

• According to housing experts, a slowdown in the realty sector is to blame for the situation 
• The developers are burdened with the loans they have taken at high interest, they say