Exit route

Mumbai, Nov. 2: Fiat today sold its 53-acre property in Kurla for a hefty Rs 608 crore, in another instance of a company divesting prime real estate in Mumbai to cash in on the property boom.

Like Fiat, which sold the Kurla facilities to IKG Associates, an entity affiliated to IL&FS, Bombay Dyeing, Cadbury India and L&T, too, have sold real estate.

An analyst said companies “want to make as much profit as possible in the real estate boom that’s happening now”.

Fiat India today said that the selloff was in line with its strategy to restructure and consolidate its operations in the country.

The operations have now fully shifted to Ranjangaon, near Pune, in over 200 acres of land.

“This marks an important phase in the journey of Fiat in India as the company ushers in a new era with the transformation of its production facilities and the impending launch of models in the country,” a Fiat release said.

The production of various cars from the Fiat stable such as the Uno, Palio, Siena, Weekend, Adventure and the Petra were taking place at the Kurla plant.

Fiat discontinued its Kurla operations late last year and shifted Palio production to the Ranjangaon facility.

Two years ago, the company had shut down the Kurla plant for six months after suffering losses because of heavy rain in Mumbai.

In 2006, the company announced a VRS for the workers, when it found the plant had become unsuitable for production after the rain.

Of Fiat’s 900 workers in Mumbai, 500 were employed at Kurla.

Set up at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore, the Ranjangaon facility, which started operations in February, will manufacture all the Fiat models.

According to reports, Kohinoor Planet, promoted by former Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi, was interested in the Kurla plant, where Fiat started production in 1997.