Wadia Group subsidiary Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company (BMDC) on Wednesday approved a proposal to sell a parcel of around 22 acres of land in Mumbai’s Worli to Goisu Realty, a subsidiary of Japanese realty developer Sumitomo, for Rs 5,200 crore. This is Mumbai’s biggest land deal in terms of value.
The entire transaction with Sumitomo will be completed in two phases with the first phase worth Rs 4,675 crore. The remaining Rs 525 crore will be received by BDMC upon fulfillment of certain conditions and execution and completion of certain contracts for the second phase.
The group has currently decided to monetize the land parcel to repay the debt of Rs 3,969 crore. It has already repaid a debt of Rs 900 crore in the last one year.
Last week, tempos lined up outside the Wadia International Center (WIC), the headquarters of the Wadia Group. The building was being vacated and the Chairman’s office was shifted to the Bombay Dyeing property in Dadar-Naigaum. Behind the Wadia headquarters, the Bastian restaurant owned by Shilpa Shetty was also closed.
As per the mill land policy, Bombay Dyeing surrendered eight acres from its Dadar-Naigaum mill for public housing to the BMC for recreational space and another eight acres to the State Housing Authority, Mhada. A BMC official said the developer would be entitled to transfer development rights over 82,000 square meters to hand over his portion of land to the BMC and Mhada. The Housing Authority on its part constructed buildings for transit accommodation and houses for mill workers.
In 2019, Goisu Realty, a unit of Japan’s Sumitomo, leased 12,141 sq m land in the Bandra-Kurla complex for Rs 2,238 crore from the MMRDA. And last year, the Japanese corporation won a tender sent by the MMRDA for two land parcels in BKC for Rs 2,067 crore.
Along with 886 group companies, Sumitomo Corporation develops and operates office buildings, retail facilities and residences as well as logistics facilities and real estate funds.
Earlier, law firm Wadia Gandhi had issued a public notice on behalf of its unnamed client, seeking to investigate the rights, titles and interests of Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Ltd. over one lakh square meters of land in Worli.
