From industrial chimneys to towering skyscrapers, Navi Mumbai’s MIDC to be a major commercial hub by 2027

By: Prajakta Chavan Rane

@the_news_21

Navi Mumbai: Envisioned during the 1960s to decongest the ballooning suburbs of Mumbai, the twin city Navi Mumbai is soon likely to turn into a bustling commercial zone. A whooping 15 million Sq Ft of commercial space is likely to be developed along the Thane-Belapur industrial belt stretching from Ghansoli to Belapur. Architects working on the various projects along this stretch are anticipating massive commercial and residential development along this stretch, which has seen only industrial chimneys so far.

“This entire skyline adjacent to Thane-Belapur belt will be transformed during the next 5 years. At least, 15 million Sq. Ft of commercial space will be added to this stretch by 2027. The skyscrapers towering around 25 floors housing IT companies, multinational companies, major business houses, and trade hubs are likely to replace this industrial zone,” said Soyuz Talib, the Principal Architect, who is designing some of the major projects in this belt.   

The key commercial and residential projects currently under construction in this belt are Raheja Universal, Business Hub on the London Pilsner (LP) plot, 24 High Nerul, Premium Boutique office spaces, and Greenscape Cyber Code, Nerul.

Even as global players in the Information Technology (IT) industry have already made the city their home, the next boom is likely to take place from the Data Centres, and logistic parks. Over 750 acres of land are being developed for data centres in this region. Some of the major Data Centre projects across this belt are Data Center Holding India, Airoli; Netmagic DC, NAV2 Airoli, Vodafone Data Centre, Dighe, SIFY, and L&T. Yet another major player is CapitalLand who is developing about 600acres of land in Taloja for the data centre.

“The policy of the government for development of this region is to have the most effective and dynamic utilization of the plots. The logistics and data centres are likely to dominate the growth story of the city in the coming decade. Some ratio is reserved for housing to promote walk to work policy. Similarly, hotels, schools, and other relevant facilities will also come up. Overall, it would be cohesive and smart infrastructure development,” explained Hiten Sethi, Nerul-based Architect, designing some of the above data centres.