Redevelopment of Mumbai mills
Encyclopedia
The redevelopment of Mumbai's cotton mills is a process that commenced in 1992, whereby the numerous cotton mills that once dotted the landscape of Mumbai
, India
, were demolished and replaced by new residential and commercial buildings, as part of the wider modernization of Mumbai.
were once integral to Mumbai's economy, particularly during the British colonial period
, when Mumbai (then known as Bombay) was often referred to as the "Manchester
of the East". However, with the passing of time and the development of industry in and around Mumbai, these mills ceased to be profitable, and fell into a state of disrepair.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, India exported cotton to Britain
, and then reimported the textile. In 1820 the total textile import cost only Rs. 350,000. However, these costs escalated tremendously until in 1860 textile imports stood at Rs. 19.3 million.
The impetus towards the founding of a cotton industry came from Indian entrepreneurs. The first Indian cotton mill, "The Bombay Spinning Mill", was opened in 1854 in Bombay by Cowasji Nanabhai Davar. Opposition from the Lancashire
mill owners was eventually offset by the support of the British manufacturers of textile machinery.
The cotton mills of Bombay, and the rest of India, were owned and managed mainly by Indians. The initial investments came from families of the mill-owners, mainly obtained from trading. Later, when shares became available to the public, much of the ownership still remained Indian - of the 53 mills in the city in 1925, only 14 were British owned. The management and directorships of these mills were also mainly Indian; of the 386 directorships recorded in 1925, only 44 were English.
By 1870 there were 13 mills in Bombay. Cotton exports grew during the American Civil War
, when supplies from the USA's cotton plantations were interrupted. At the end of 1895 there were 70 mills; growing to 83 in 1915. A period of stagnation set in during the recession of the 1920's. In 1925 there were 81 mills in the city. After World War II, under strong competition from Japan, the mills declined. In 1953 there remained only 53 mills in the city.
Gradually, the government relaxed its norms that once restricted mill lands from being redeveloped, and as a result, numerous high profile builders jumped at the opportunity of grabbing hold of these land parcels. Between the period from 1990 to 2010, majority of these mill lands were acquired and redeveloped. The list below shows the names of the former mills that once existed, and the structure that currently stands on the land today.
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, were demolished and replaced by new residential and commercial buildings, as part of the wider modernization of Mumbai.
The cotton mill era and its decline
The mills of GirangaonGirangaon
Girangaon was a name commonly used to refer to an area now part of central Mumbai, India, which at one time had almost 130 textile mills, with the majority being cotton mills. Girangaon covered an area of , not including the workers' housing...
were once integral to Mumbai's economy, particularly during the British colonial period
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, when Mumbai (then known as Bombay) was often referred to as the "Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
of the East". However, with the passing of time and the development of industry in and around Mumbai, these mills ceased to be profitable, and fell into a state of disrepair.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, India exported cotton to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and then reimported the textile. In 1820 the total textile import cost only Rs. 350,000. However, these costs escalated tremendously until in 1860 textile imports stood at Rs. 19.3 million.
The impetus towards the founding of a cotton industry came from Indian entrepreneurs. The first Indian cotton mill, "The Bombay Spinning Mill", was opened in 1854 in Bombay by Cowasji Nanabhai Davar. Opposition from the Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
mill owners was eventually offset by the support of the British manufacturers of textile machinery.
The cotton mills of Bombay, and the rest of India, were owned and managed mainly by Indians. The initial investments came from families of the mill-owners, mainly obtained from trading. Later, when shares became available to the public, much of the ownership still remained Indian - of the 53 mills in the city in 1925, only 14 were British owned. The management and directorships of these mills were also mainly Indian; of the 386 directorships recorded in 1925, only 44 were English.
By 1870 there were 13 mills in Bombay. Cotton exports grew during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, when supplies from the USA's cotton plantations were interrupted. At the end of 1895 there were 70 mills; growing to 83 in 1915. A period of stagnation set in during the recession of the 1920's. In 1925 there were 81 mills in the city. After World War II, under strong competition from Japan, the mills declined. In 1953 there remained only 53 mills in the city.
Gradually, the government relaxed its norms that once restricted mill lands from being redeveloped, and as a result, numerous high profile builders jumped at the opportunity of grabbing hold of these land parcels. Between the period from 1990 to 2010, majority of these mill lands were acquired and redeveloped. The list below shows the names of the former mills that once existed, and the structure that currently stands on the land today.
List of mills in Mumbai
Please note that this list is not exhaustive.| Name of former mill | Location | New Development |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kohinoor Mills No.3 (North) | Dadar(W) | Kohinoor Mill Mall |
| 2. India United Dye Works no.6 (North) | Prabhadevi | India International Trade Center India International Trade Center India International Trade Centre is a proposed skyscraper in the city of Mumbai in India. Its set to be 320 m tall with 72 floors.... |
| 3. Elphinstone Mills (South) | Elphinstone | Indiabulls Finance Centre and Indiabulls Sky Suites |
| 4. Jupiter Mills (South) | Lower Parel | Indiabulls Sky |
| 5. Shree Madhusudan Mills (South) | ||
| 6. Jam Mills | Lalbaug | MHADA MHADA Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority is an Indian organisation established in 1977. Since then, it has been engaged primarily in constructing and selling housing to low and middle income groups in urban and semi-urban areas. In Mumbai, it has constructed about 30,000 housing... |
| 7. Sitaram Mills | Mahalaxmi | MCGM |
| 8. New Hind Textile Mills | Byculla | MHADA MHADA Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority is an Indian organisation established in 1977. Since then, it has been engaged primarily in constructing and selling housing to low and middle income groups in urban and semi-urban areas. In Mumbai, it has constructed about 30,000 housing... |
| 9. Kohinoor Mills no.1 (North) | Dadar (E) | No development |
| 10. Kohinoor Mills no.2 (North) | Dadar (E) | No development |
| 11. Tata Mills (North) | Dadar (E) | No development |
| 12. Mumbai Textile Mills (Sakseria Mills) | Lower Parel | DLF Dlf DLF may refer to:*DLF Limited, India's largest real estate firm, formerly known as Delhi Land and Finance*Darfur Liberation Front*Dhofar Liberation Front, a Marxist movement based in southern Oman*Development Loan Fund, former lending arm of the U.S... Place |
| 13. Sun Mills Compound | Lower Parel | Zenzi Mills Club / Lokhandwala Victoria |
| 14. Digvijay Mills | Kalachowkie | No development |
| 15. Apollo Mills (South) | Mahalaxmi | Lodha Bellissimo/Primero |
| 16. India United Mills no.4 | Kalachowkie | MHADA MHADA Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority is an Indian organisation established in 1977. Since then, it has been engaged primarily in constructing and selling housing to low and middle income groups in urban and semi-urban areas. In Mumbai, it has constructed about 30,000 housing... |
| 17. India United Mills no.2 | Kalachowkie | MCGM |
| 18. India United Mills no.3 | Kalachowkie | MCGM |
| 19. India United Mills no.5 | Byculla | No development |
| 20. Gold Mohur Mills | Dadar | No development |
| 21. Poddar Processors (Edward Mills) | Lower Parel | Indiabulls Indiabulls Indiabulls is an Indian company with its presence in the Real Estate, Infrastructure, Financial Services, Securities, Retail, Multiplex and Power sectors.... Bleu |
| 22. India United Mills no.1 (North) | Parel/Currey Road | No development |
| 23. Finlay Mills | Parel | Lodha |
| 24. Poddar Mills | Mahalaxmi | No development |
| 25. New City of Bombay Mfg Mills | Kalachowkie | No development |
| 26. Western India Spinning & Weaving Mill | Kalachowkie | No development |
| 27. Swadeshi Mills | Kurla | Swadeshi Garden |
| 28. Standard Mills | Prabhadevi | Sheth Beaumonde and Chaitanya Towers |
| 29. Matulya Mills | Lower Parel | Sun Palazzo |
| 30. Phoenix Mills | Lower Parel | High Street Phoenix |
| 31. Modern Mills | Jacob Circle | Mahindra Belvedere Court |
| 32. Hindoostan Spinning & Weaving Mills No.1 | Jacob Circle | Raheja Vivarea |
| 33. Hindoostan Spinning & Weaving Mills no.2 | Jacob Circle | Kalpataru Heights |
| 34. Ruby Mills | Dadar | Ruby Corporate Park |
| 35. Hindoostan Spinning & Weaving Mills no.3 (Crown Mills) | Prabhadevi | Orchid Crown |
| 36. Bombay Dyeing (Spring Mills) | Dadar | Spring Mills tower |
| 37. Victoria Mills | Lower Parel | Victoria House (Commercial) & Car park |
| 38. Gokuldas Morarjee Mills no.1 | Parel | Ashok Towers |
| 39. Swan Mills | Sewri | Ashok Gardens |
| 40. Mafatlal Mills no.3 | Lower Parel | Marathon Futurex Marathon Futurex Marathon Futurex is an IT and financial business centre launched recently by the Marathon Group at Lower Parel, Mumbai. Marathon Futurex is proposed to be the tallest commercial property in India. It is centrally located at the busy junction of Lower Parel and Curry Road. It is in close proximity... |
| 41. Khatau Makanji Spinning & Weaving Mills | Jacob Circle | No development |
| 42. Century Spinning & Weaving Mills | Worli | Century Bazaar |
| 43. Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company | Worli | Hard Rock Café / ICC Bombay Realty |
| 44. Prakash Cotton Mills | Worli | No development |
| 45. Shriniwas Mills | Lower Parel | World One |
| 46. Kamala Mills | Lower Parel | Kamala City |
| 47. Shree Ram Mills | Worli | Palais Royale, Mumbai |
| 48. Gokuldas Morarjee Mills no.2 | Lower Parel | Peninsula Corporate park |
| 49. Dawn Mills | Lower Parel | Peninsula/Piramal Project |
| 50. China Mill compound | Sewri | Dosti Flamingos |
| 51. Piramal Spinning & Weaving Mills | Lower Parel | Marathon Nextgen by Marathon Group Marathon Group The Marathon Group is an Indian real estate development corporation, established in 1969 by Mr. Ramniklal Shah, Founder & Chairman .The Marathon Group has developed over 70 projects with a built-up area of over . The Group’s ongoing projects, worth over 1 billion USD, are likely to create over 8... |
| 52. Raghuvanshi Mills | Lower Parel | K-lifestyle |
| 53. New Great Eastern Spinning & Weaving Mills | Byculla | No development |
| 54. Simplex Mills | Jacob Circle | Planet Godrej Planet Godrej Planet Godrej is located in South Mumbai on plot of at Mahalaxmi, Mumbai Planet Godrej is one of the tallest towers in India. The tower is and 51 floors high. Only 5% of the total land was used to build the building leading to a large amount of open space... |
| 55. Bradbury Mills | Jacob Circle | No development |
| 56. Mafatlal Mills no.1 | Byculla | Behind Jeejamata Udyan |
| 57. Mafatlal Mills no.2 | Byculla | |
| 58. Mukesh Textile Mills | Colaba | Venue for Bollywood filming |
| 59. Bharat Mills | Lower Parel | Indiabulls Bleu |
| 60. Ambika Mills | Worli | Namaste Tower Namaste Tower Namaste Tower is a supertall skyscraper proposed for construction in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It will be & 62 floors mixed use tower that will house a hotel, office and retail space. It has been designed by Atkins, Dubai... |
| 61. New Islam Mills | Lower Parel | One Avighna Park One Avighna Park One Avighna Park is a skyscraper under construction in Mumbai, Maharashtra. One Avighna Park encompassing seven acres will include a 64 floor residential project, 23- storeyed residential , and commercial as well as super deluxe service apartments. - Location :The One Avighna Park is located in... |