This will throw open nearly 150 acres of surplus land possessed by these mills in the land-starved Mumbai, thereby bringing in movement in the volatile real estate market. The next hearing at the BIFR is slated for June 7. These sick mills, which have been referred to the BIFR, are spread over 275 acres of land. However, they have been prohibited from carrying out sale of land due to a ban order issued by the previous Shiv Sena-BJP government on February 29, 1996. The ban was imposed following the appointment of Charles Correa committee for an integrated development of textile mills land in Greater Mumbai.

NTC had then projected the cost of modernisation and revival of 18 mills at Rs 500 crore through ploughing back the proceeds of sale of land. These mills, alongwith other NTC mills in the rest of Maharashtra, owe nearly Rs 130 crore to the state government, Maharashtra State Electricity Board and Tata Electric Companies. Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that these mills, following the lifting of ban, can sell land as per the Development Control Rule 58 and its sub-sections. Each mill will have to contribute one third each to the Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority while on the balance one-third portion, the mill will be allowed to carry out land development.

Deshmukh said that the sale of land by these mills will come under the purview of the monitoring committee to be set up after the launching of a comprehensive policy on Mumbai textile mill land development. He said that a committee headed by the state textile minister Ranjit Deshmukh will submit its report within a forthnight. Deshmukh said that the state government will not have any objection if NTC decides to make a pool of land to be contributed to the MMC and Mhada. He, however, reiterated that the government wants NTC to use the funds generated through sale of land for the revival and modernisation of Mumbai mills and not to shift elsewhere in the country. NTC, in a recent presentation to the state government, had demanded the necessary permissions for sale of surplus leasehold and freehold land identified at various mills under Urban Land Ceiling Act.