Mumbai: The Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA) has invited online tenders for a yacht bay at Princess Dock. The tender, floated on August 15, with a submission deadline of September 15, invites Marina, ferry and ro-ro operators, and passenger terminal managers to operate the dock.
This comes after the MbPA’s decision to lease 215 acres of its land for up to 30 years, effectively shelving the grand plan to develop the eastern waterfront with world-class amenities such as entertainment and recreational spaces, a state-of-the-art marina, convention centres, water transport facilities, and a global business district.
The MbPA had earlier planned a large marina, a specially designed harbour for 400 yachts and small boats, near the Ferry Wharf. For now, those yachts and boats are berthed near the Radio Club and the Gateway of India.
A senior official of the MbPA said that while a larger marina is still being planned, the current tender is for a smaller one for about 20 yachts at Princess Dock, in front of the domestic cruise terminal.
The MbPA’s tender highlights that Princess Dock is located close to prime waterfront locations like the Gateway of India. The tender adds that the bay can also have a floating pontoon berth.
As per the MbPA, this initiative supports the authority’s vision to enhance coastal infrastructure and promote marine tourism and leisure activities in Mumbai. The tender adds that this is a unique opportunity to operate in a strategic maritime zone offering zone.
The MbPA, which owns most of the land along the city’s seafront, has instead decided to lease 215 acres along the coast for up to 30 years, exclusively for industrial and commercial purposes. In doing so, it aims to earn a minimum ₹814.04 crore in revenue annually. The port authority published an Expression of Interest (EOI) on Monday, offering 28 properties – 27 plots in Mumbai and one in Thal in Raigad district. The last date for submission is September 11.
These properties include a 22-hectare plot at Princess Dock near the domestic cruise terminal; a 1.2-lakh sq m plot that once housed an HPCL facility in Wadala; a 42,955-sq m plot that used to house warehouses of the Food Corporation of India in Wadala; the Sewri Timber Pond, a cargo storage yard measuring 1.04 lakh sq m near the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link; among various other buildings it owns.
Urban planners pointed to another major urban renewal plan, which aimed to balance public amenities, affordable housing and commercial development that was not implemented as intended. This was the plan to redevelop vast tracts of defunct mill land in Lower Parel, while safeguarding the interests of the mill workers.