Impact of Mumbai (India) Textile Mill Land Development on Land Use and Real Estate Markets

Mumbai has around 2.5 Square Km of land in the heart of the city (8 Km from the CBD) which is owned by 58 cotton textile mills. Since mid seventies a number of these mills have been declared as sick (loss making) units. Urban Land (Ceiling and Holding) Act 1976 prevented owners to sell the land for real estate development. During the last five years, a number of land transactions and large scale commercial real estate development on mill land have taken place. This paper analyzes the institutional and economic factors that have caused the transformation of mill lands from a centre of economic activity to a degenerated belt and again, post 1991, as a regenerated area of economic activities. Sequential changes in the Development Control regulations since 1991 have allowed mill owners to exploit the commercial potential of the land either through a sale or development by themselves. In this context, this paper analyses the impact of development on mill lands on other micro-markets in Mumbai.