MUMBAI: The two highrises coming up at Nariman Point under the Manora MLA hostel redevelopment will now cost ₹2,009 crore, up from an earlier ₹1,750 crore. Additional development charges tied to the project's floor space index (FSI) of 5.39, plus interior design and furniture costs, pushed the bill up, PWD officials said.
Both towers are under construction, and officials insist the project will be inaugurated on schedule, by March 2028.
The four 14-storey buildings of the Manora MLA hostel complex were demolished in March 2019 after the BMC declared them dilapidated. The state government invited bids the same year to replace them with two highrises, at a base price of ₹862 crore. The job first went to the National Buildings Construction Corporation, a central PSU. In December 2020, after a change of government in the state, it moved to the state public works department.
In March 2023, the PWD awarded the contract to Larsen & Toubro on a design-and-build basis at ₹1,266 crore. The cost later rose to ₹1,750 crore and recently to ₹2,009 crore. The latest hike includes an additional ₹55.50 crore towards development charges, officials said.
A senior PWD official said the state government fixed March 2028 as the target for inauguration at a recent meeting. 'Tower A, planned as a 42-storey structure, has reached the 34th floor, while construction of the other 29-storey tower is complete. The project is progressing as scheduled,' the official said.
Shashi Prabhu, the project's architect, said work was moving fast and would be done within the deadline. 'We have also prepared a sample flat featuring state-of-the-art interiors, which MLAs can visit,' he said.
The wait has been costly. Since February 2018, the state legislature has spent more than ₹210 crore compensating 288 MLAs and 78 MLCs for alternative accommodation. Of the more than 360 legislators in the two houses, over 200 have been given one room each of about 300 sq ft at the Akashwani MLA Hostel. They get ₹50,000 a month for alternative accommodation; those without rooms get ₹1 lakh a month, a legislature official said. The annual bill for transit accommodation is ₹30.50 crore, and the ₹210 crore spent so far is more than 10% of the total redevelopment cost.
The redeveloped complex will have rooms and offices for legislators and their staff, parking for 750 vehicles, two meeting halls, an auditorium, a library and a gymnasium.
Officials say the March 2028 inauguration target stands.