RBI Acquires Metro Rail’s Nariman Point Plot For Rs 3,472 Crore

The Reserve Bank of India has acquired the Mumbai Metro Rail Corp.'s 4.16-acre plot in Nariman Point for Rs 3,471.82 crore. The land parcel’s sale was formally registered on Sept. 5, with a stamp duty payment of Rs 2,083 crore, as per official documents.

The bid had a reserve price of Rs 5,173 crore, but the RBI has been given a 90-year lease on the land for the far lesser sum of Rs 3,471.82 crore. The RBI has been scouting for South Mumbai office premises with a minimum area of around 30,000 sq feet for the last four years.

The plot offers a buildable area of around 1.6 million sq ft, including 1.13 lakh sq ft earmarked to rehouse the structures that occupied the land prior to 2017. This includes political party offices, which were relocated to Ballard Estate to enable the work for the Vidhan Bhavan metro station to be carried out.

Nariman Point is a prominent location in South Mumbai that houses some of India's prestigious business headquarters and government offices.

The acquired site is expected to be developed for institutional purposes, strengthening the central bank’s presence in Mumbai.

The metro rail body floated global bids for the plot in October 2024, while the proceeds from the deal will go towards repaying its debt to the Japan International Cooperation Agency, borrowed for the construction of the underground metro line. The 33.5 km-long Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ metro line has been constructed at a revised cost of Rs 37,276 crore, of which Rs 21,280 crore, or 57.09%, was funded by JICA.