Cidco plans to construct a township on 337 hectares of land in Palghar.

Palghar, about 115 kilometers from Mumbai, will be the site of a new proposed satellite township. This will be the second such township, following Navi Mumbai, whose growth began in the 1970s.

The township will be built on 337 hectares of land provided to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) in lieu of building the district headquarters, at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. Cidco has been granted 400 hectares, 70 of which are prime sea-facing property. The 337 hectares, which can host 35 Oval Maidans, are on the other side of the newly built district headquarters, which spans 103 hectares.

“With the Covid pandemic, we were unable to forecast the market. As a result, we have welcomed expressions of interest because we want to know what the market wants and consider the perspectives of stakeholders, whether they are educational institutions, IT firms, big manufacturing houses, experts, or scholars. “Covid has changed the way we would live, and we want to know what the best product mix will be for Palghar,” said Sanjay Mukherjee, MD, Cidco.

Mukherjee stated that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the region’s planning authority, wants Palghar to be a residential township. With the Bullet train terminal station in BKC, the MMRDA proposes to relocate its back office to Palghar so that its employees can live and work there while taking the Bullet train to BKC if necessary.

The draft plan is complete, and based on the response, Cidco will award the township to four to five master developers. If the response is negative, Cidco will build infrastructure and auction off plots.

Mukherjee wants Palghar to be a walk-to-work neighbourhood. Palghar city now has an industrial area. The Trans MIDC Industries Association (TMIA), which represents industries in the Thane-Navi Mumbai region, has stated that the notified industrial area should be excluded from the proposed Palghar city municipality, the city’s future civic body.

“In industrial areas, municipal authorities have no part to play. MIDC is a statutory corporation tasked with providing facilities and amenities in this city. The Maharashtra government has refused to uphold the constitutional requirement that notified industrial areas to be exclusive. “The industrial areas of Navi Mumbai and Panvel have been included in municipal limits, resulting in double taxation and the flight of industries to other states,” said Raja Bujle, chairman, legal, for TMIA.