Spa, beauty parlour, boutique, mobile shop, laundry, restaurant, medical and general stores. These are some of the services that the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) will offer to people after leasing out their premises to private contractors. The loss-making undertaking is taking this route for increasing their revenue and make commercial use of their space. The BEST has identified eight different places spread across its 3,568 square feet premises which includes bus depots and staff quarters for lease. According to sources, these spots are at Colaba, Bandra, Andheri, Parel and Kandivali. "We are leasing spaces for commercial purposes on these premises," said Surendrakumar Bagde, General Manager, BEST Undertaking. Sources said that the lowest price for monthly rent at Bhoiwada staff quarters in Parel that stands at Rs 33 per sq feet where the Undertaking intends to lease 372 sq feet of space. The BEST is also leasing out two plots of 866 sq feet and 818 sq feet of the BMC headquarters at Colaba for Rs 155 per sq feet and Rs 140 per sq feet respectively. The BEST Committee members claim that as of now the administration – after tendering process – have given the majority of plots to a single bidder on lease. "Chances are high that this single bidder will sub-let these plots to a third party and earn heavily from it," said a BEST Committee member on condition of anonymity. A major portion of BEST property is lying idle, especially in bus depots. For long, the Undertaking has been drawing plans to monetise their bus depots and other lands available with them. This is being done as part of non-fare revenue model to generate money. The Undertaking's accumulated losses have crossed Rs 2500 crore. The Undertaking is trying to do everything to revive its financial condition. For this, they are also seeking a grant of Rs 600 crore from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which wants the BEST to take its total fleet to 7000 buses. They also intend to reduce the minimum fare to Rs 5 from the current Rs 8. Among other measures, the BEST has decided to get 450 buses on the wet-lease model. Apart from this, the BMC has also begun the process of creating a new head in their budget for BEST Undertaking as part of merging the two budgets. Beautification Drive The loss-making undertaking will lease out their premises to private contractors in a bid to increase their revenue and make commercial use of their space

Stay updated with all the Mumbai Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.