Nariman Point
|
|
Nariman Point is Mumbai's premier business district. It was named after Khursheed Framji Nariman, a Parsi visionary. The area is situated on land reclaimed from the sea. It had the distinction of having the highest commercial real estate rental space in the world in 1995 at 175$ per sq. foot! The area is situated on the extreme southern tip of Marine Drive. It houses some of India's premiere business establishment headquarters.
Area
On the southern tip of Marine Drive, the region lies on the Arabian Sea coast in the South Mumbai area. To the south lies a small cove. Across this bay lies Cuffe Parade. Colaba, Badhwar Park, Cooperage and Oval Maidan are some of the neighbouring lie to the east of this region. Just north of Nariman Point is Mantralaya, the seat of governance of the state of Maharashtra.
The nearest suburban railway station is Churchgate.
Commercial Establishments
- State Bank of India
- Express House, home to the Indian Express newspaper
- Air India headquarters
- The Oberoi Hotel
- Central Bank of India
- British Consulate and British Library
- National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA)
- Mittal Towers
- Vidhyan Sabha
- Consulate of Oman
History
The area was part of the sea prior to 1940. A popular leader of the Congress, Khurshid Nariman (also titled as Veer Nariman), a Bombay Municipal Corporation corporator, proposed to reclaim the area from the sea near Churchgate. To accomplish this task, debris from various parts of the city was dumped here to fill in the shallows. Reinforced concrete cement was used, of which the imported steel used was obtained from the black market at a higher price due to the World War II. This led to a furore and Nariman was sacked. The entire cost was estimated to be Rs. 3 lakhs (now 10 crores) Additional reclamations were carried out in the 1970s. A construction boom in that decade saw this region spurting many commercial high-rises.