Cidco plans 337 hectares satellite city in Palghar

Maharashtra Government has planned a new satellite township on an area of 337 hectares in Palghar on the outskirts of Mumbai. This will be the second such township after Navi Mumbai, the development of which started in the 1970s. The township will come up on a land parcel given to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) in lieu of constructing the district headquarters, at an investment of ₹1,000 crore. Cidco has been given 400 hectares, of which 70 hectares is prime sea-facing land. The land parcel can accommodate 35 Oval Maidans and is on the other side of the newly developed district HQ spread over 103 hectares. Sanjay Mukherjee, MD, Cidco informed that they have invited expressions of interest just to know what the market demands, understand the views of stakeholders, be it educational institutions, IT companies, large industrial houses, experts, scholars. Covid has changed how one should live and the agency wants to know what will be the right product mix for Palghar. MMRDA, which is the planning authority for the region, wants Palghar to be a residential township. With the terminal station for the Bullet train in BKC, the MMRDA proposes to shift its back office to Palghar so that its employees can live and work there and if required travel by the Bullet train to BKC. The draft plan is ready and depending on the response Cidco may allow four to five master developers to build the township. In case the response is not good, Cidco will build infrastructure and auction plots. Mukherjee wants Palghar to be a walk-to-work place as Palghar city currently comprises its industrial area as well.