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The Bombay High Court on Monday cleared the decks for corridors along the western and central railway lines to become even more congested than they are now. The stay on the use of transfer of development rights (TDR) in the corridor was lifted and the public interest litigation that challenged such 'loading' of TDR was dismissed.

The immediate beneficiaries of the order will include some of the city's largest builders - Nirmal Group's 'City of Joy' project on Eternit Everest land, Kalpataru's 'Aura' on Ghatkopar's British Oxygen land and Boman Irani's 'Keystone' project in Goregaon.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) sources said the judgment would release around 45 lakh sq ft of 'frozen' TDR. After development, this TDR would be worth around Rs 2,000 crore. BMC officials said so far 7.25 crore sq ft of TDR has been released in the city.
TDR is the development right generated from slum rehabilitation, road widening or other projects involving the surrender of private land. It is freely tradable and allows the buyer to 'load' or use it on a plot to the north of the source of the TDR.
With Mumbai's central corridors opening up, higher demand is expected to jack up TDR prices from the current average of Rs 1,850 per sq ft to Rs 2,500 in the coming weeks. Builders said the order will allow more housing stock to come into the market, but with the high TDR and construction cost, the corridors' realty will be available only in the high-end segment, ie, Rs 5,000 per sq ft and above.