The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has sought approval to pay Rs 20 crore, including Goods and Services Tax, to Maharashtra Film, Theatre and Cultural Development Corporation Ltd for land being used during construction of Mumbai’s Goregaon-Mulund Link Road twin-tunnel project.
The proposed payment covers provisional rent for land used by the civic body until March 31, 2029. Of the total, Rs 17.01 crore is listed as rent and Rs 3.06 crore as 18% GST. The final amount will depend on the actual period for which the land remains in the BMC’s possession. The proposal requires approval from the civic body’s standing committee.
The land is being used for construction and support activities in the Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, commonly known as Film City, in Goregaon East. The project includes a proposed 1,600-metre road and a 1,600-metre-long, 10-metre-wide strip that has been provided as a work area. Several filming grounds have been affected by the construction.
The BMC has also taken Josh Maidan and Joker Maidan on temporary lease from Film City. Josh Maidan, measuring 11,952.53 square metres, is being used for storing tunnel-mining equipment, while Joker Maidan, measuring 8,231.74 square metres, is being used to temporarily store sludge generated during excavation.
According to the civic proposal, land rent was fixed at Rs 2.52 per square foot per day following a meeting chaired by the additional chief secretary at the Chief Minister’s Office. Based on the land currently in physical possession, the annual rent for the 1,600-metre strip is Rs 51.3 lakh from March 14, 2024, until its return to Chitranagari. The annual rent for Josh Maidan is Rs 2.44 crore from June 16, 2025, while the annual rent for Joker Maidan is Rs 1.68 crore from March 9, 2026, until the respective parcels are returned.
The proposal states that Rs 1.69 crore a year will be recovered from payments due to the contractor, subject to the applicable standard rent increase. The project is being executed under a Design-Build Contract by J Kumar-NCC Pvt Ltd.
The 12.2-kilometre Goregaon-Mulund Link Road is intended to connect Mumbai’s eastern and western suburbs. Phase 2(B) involves three-lane twin tunnels forming part of a 5.3-kilometre tunnel stretch between Chitranagari in Goregaon East and Amar Nagar in Mulund West, beneath Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The works also include 17 cross passages, 720 metres of twin-box tunnels and 600 metres of approach roads at Goregaon and Mulund.
The BMC expects the project to reduce travel time between the eastern and western suburbs from around 90 minutes to 20 minutes. Construction began on November 20, 2023, and approximately 21% of the project had been completed according to the civic proposal. TBM-1 began excavation on August 10, 2026, while excavation by TBM-2 is expected to begin in October. The next immediate step is consideration of the provisional rent proposal by the BMC standing committee.
