Reliance Industries is all set to build a global economic hub in Navi Mumbai, where it has secured sub-leases on about 3,750 acres of land for ₹13,400 crore.

The lease is for a period of 43 years, and it follows a memorandum of understanding that the company had signed with the Maharashtra government back in 2018. The company said in an exchange filing that its subsidiaries have completed the registration of the sub-lease deeds for the land along with the development rights from Navi Mumbai IIA Pvt Ltd (formerly called Navi Mumbai SEZ), in which planning agency CIDCO has a 26 per cent stake.

RIL said that the sub-leased land is to be used for the development of an integrated industrial area under the terms of Maharashtra Industrial Policy, 2013. Under this policy SEZs were allowed to migrate to integrated industrial area, where industrial units can be set up.

The aim is to build a ‘world-class’ integrated digital services industrial area with global partnerships. It pointed out that it had a proven track record of developing large integrated industrial complexes at Hazira,

Jamnagar and Dahej, fast growing integrated smart city in Jhajjar district of Haryana, a state-of-the-art convention centre and a modern office space at Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai.

The land was allotted to Navi Mumbai SEZ in 2006 as part of a tender process to develop a global SEZ of global standards. NMSEZ is promoted by Mukesh Ambani, CIDCO and some other entities. RIL subsequently started the process to sub-lease it and had made an initial payment of ₹2180 crore in 2019.

This is part of the state government’s plan to decongest Mumbai and create parallel industrial hubs in Navi Mumbai and Panvel by upgrading infrastructure and providing facilities such as affordable housing and improved connectivity. The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link has brought the cities closer to Mumbai by shortening the travel time.

RIL will be developing an industrial and economic hub that will provide both physical as well as digital infrastructure that will encourage corporations to set up offices and factories there.