Mumbai: As a financial cushion for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is implementing multi-crore transport infrastructure projects in Mumbai and its urban agglomeration, the Maharashtra government has decided to hand over a massive land bank to the authority free of cost.
A land bank is a reserve of land that is held by an authority for future development and as a source of revenue. However, over the last few years, the authority has been exploring new avenues of raising funds with its land bank drying up.
The state government has decided to transfer 33,954.31 hectare land from the state revenue department to the MMRDA to create basic infrastructural facilities, as well as to monetise it so that it can fund key infrastructure projects.
These land parcels are spread across Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts, as per a government resolution issued by the Maharashtra government on Wednesday.
“To ensure financial viability and reduce dependency on conventional borrowings, MMRDA had requested the state government to transfer identified government land within its jurisdiction. The government has accorded approval for the transfer of 33,954.61 hectares of government land to MMRDA on a freehold basis. This land will serve as a critical financial asset for infrastructure development and resource mobilisation,” an MMRDA official, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint.
The MMRDA is currently in the process of implementing projects worth more than Rs 3 lakh crore, including metro lines of more than 300 kilometres, a Virar-Alibaug multi modal corridor, multiple intra-city tunnels such as the under-construction Thane-Borivali tunnel, Orange Gate-Marine drive tunnel, with more in the pipeline.
It is also working on setting up growth centres at various locations across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The MMRDA has, in the past, used its land bank in prime areas of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and Wadala, and a few other places, as a cushion for it to be able to take on mega transport infrastructure works. Several MMRDA officials in the past have described MMRDA’s land bank as akin to its “family silver.”
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New land bank
The land bank that the state government has freshly allotted to the MMRDA is spread across 1,324 villages. These land parcels are spread across towns such as Ambernath, Bhiwandi, Kalyan and Thane in the Thane district; Alibag, Panvel, Pen, Uran, Karjat and Khalapur in the Raigad district; and Palghar and Vasai in the Palghar district.
As per the government resolution, the MMRDA will need to get a No Objection Certificate from the state government every time it plans to develop parcels from this land bank. Further, if these fall under the maintenance of any urban local body, the local Zilla Parishad or the gram panchayat, the MMRDA will have to seek their permission too.
The authority will have to protect the land from encroachments and deal with any existing encroachments on the land. If any of these land parcels are under acquisition by the state government as per the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, the MMRDA will have to complete the transaction and pay the requisite compensation.
Moreover, 25 percent of the amount raised by monetising this land will have to be deposited with the state government.
The above-mentioned MMRDA official said this land bank will be used for transit-oriented development, creating economic hubs, logistics parks, housing and integrated urban nodes that will generate sustainable revenue streams for the MMRDA and also enable regional growth.
The transfer of this land bank also means that the MMRDA has reached financial closure for all its projects planned in fiscal 2026-27, the official said.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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