Mumbai: BEST general manager Sonia Sethi on Tuesday announced a massive Rs 28,000 crore BEST Kayapalat (transformation) project aimed at restoring the utility’s financial health and making it self-reliant. One of the key points in the plan is increasing FSI of BEST depot land from 1.3 to 7, thereby ensuring more revenue through premium FSI.The proposal was cleared by the BEST committee on Tuesday. The proposal will now be sent to the BMC, which will forward it to the Urban Development Department before placing it before the state cabinet for final approval.Another key point in the transformation plan includes the development of public parking facilities,creating 36,000 car parking spaces for Mumbai at the depots, and social infrastructure including schools, hospitals, art museums,theatres, sports centres and cultural centres and not just malls and commercial offices coming up at BEST properties across the city, she said.According to Sethi, the BEST has proposed Transit oriented development (Tod) at all bus depots across city so that they get more FSI — from 1.3 to 7. As per TOD, developers can leverage an increased FSI up to 7 within a 500-meter radius as has been done in the Metro-3 underground project. The premium FSI charges will be handed over to BEST — ensuring that it earns a huge revenue from the Transformation Project.“The upfront premium generated through the project will be used to clear liabilities, pay pending dues of retired and serving employees, and support the purchase and operation of BEST-owned buses. We plan to purchase 5,000 buses and recruit more drivers and conductors,” she mentioned at the panel meeting.The proposal envisages the creation of dedicated corpus and recurring funds to meet future financial commitments while reducing dependence on external financial assistance, said Sethi. “BEST is burdened with an accumulated deficit of over Rs 7,300 crore and liabilities exceeding Rs 14,300 crore. The administration has also estimated that procuring and operating 5,000 self-owned buses and meeting employee-related commitments would require an additional Rs 13,500 crore. Together, the undertaking would need nearly Rs 28,000 crore to achieve long-term financial stability,” she said.To address this challenge, BEST has proposed implementing the project through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis. A key feature of the proposal is that ownership of all BEST land parcels will remain entirely with the undertaking, while private participation will be used to generate funds and modernise infrastructure.The BEST will secure permissions for mixed land use from the UD department while also looking at a lease of 49+49 years as has been done by the transport department for MSRTC land parcels across the state.BEST officials said the transformation project could help secure the undertaking’s future while enabling it to deliver modern, efficient and sustainable services to Mumbai’s commuters.The transformation plan has been prepared in line with directions from the chief minister and deputy chief minister, who also heads the Urban Development department. Sethi said the undertaking’s financial position has become increasingly unsustainable, making structural reforms unavoidable.
