Corporate bigwigs lambast BKC’s inadequate support infrastructure

MUMBAI: With its glitzy glass and steel facades, the sprawling Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) is a defining landmark for the metro, but lack of support infrastructure for the nation’s costliest business district came in for sharp criticism on Friday from corporate head honchos.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday promised all help and substantial changes within a year, after the heads of State Bank of India and Standard Chartered Bank, two of the biggest names to have a presence in the area, went public with their ire.Fadnavis promised flyovers connecting BKC from Kalanagar and Eastern Express Highway in a year to decongest traffic and facilitate further development of the zone as a global financial centre.
“At BKC, we have developed a lot of buildings, but there is no infrastructure. There is no infrastructure in terms of entering the place or exiting the place. We don’t get the basics rights,” said Sunil Kaushal, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank India, at the ‘Mumbai Next’ summit.
The British lender moved its country head office out of the downtown Fort area to the upcoming BKC, joining an increasing league of institutions that are abandoning older business districts like Fort area and Nariman Point for BKC.
Kaushal also acknowledged it, saying the bank has invested a lot in the new facility and also stressed on the need to increase living standards.
He also feared that occupants will be forced to migrate out of the complex if corrective steps are not initiated soon.
Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman, State Bank of India, which has a multi-storied building in BKC as its regional head office, also pointed to similar problems on the infrastructure front.
“Let’s solve BKC. It has major infrastructure issues,” she said, adding this should serve as a top priority before the government initiates steps to transform this as a global financial centre.