Financial centre at BKC bullet train site to be 96m tall

MUMBAI: The International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) proposed above the underground bullet train terminus site at Bandra-Kurla Complex will now be 96 metres tall instead of 61m planned earlier. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMDRA) and the National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) recently resolved the issue of the financial centre’s height.
Currently, the height of buildings in BKC is capped at 61m. MMRDA had sought a relaxation in the cap to allow for more floors in the IFSC, to maximize revenue generation.
In August, MMRDA had asked the state government to pitch for raising the height ceiling for IFSC.
The issue came up in a review meeting of railway projects, attended by railway minister Piyush Goyal and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Goyal had asked both MMRDA and NHSRC to resolve the issue without impacting the project timeline. Following this, a series of meetings was held between the two bodies.
Metropolitan commissioner R A Rajeev said, “We have found a solution. Our consultants will design the foundation, which will allow us to construct a 96m building.”
NHSRC, which is executing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, had expressed fears that any changes in design at this stage would affect the project timeline. Also, it had made it clear that the underground tracks cannot go below 25m if the foundation has to be dug deeper. Rajeev said, “Japanese consultants had come up with a floating design, which means the roof of the terminus would have to made a lot thicker if a 96m tall building was planned above it. However, we explained to them that this was not necessary and offered a solution which was agreeable to both.”
An NHSRC official said, “The issue has been resolved. Instead of a floating design where the building was to be constructed above the bullet train’s roof, it will now come up on an integrated pillar common to the IFSC building as well as the terminus. We had prepared the floating design because the MMRDA has not yet finalized its design for the IFSC building.”