Textile museum project’s phase-1 bidder finalised

Mumbai: With the bidder having been finalised for the first phase of the project, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has finally kick-started the ambitious Textile Museum Project, which will showcase the once prosperous textile industry in the city.

According to civic officials, BMC floated tenders for the first phase of the project a couple of days ago and selected one Sawani Constructions, which emerged as the lowest bidder. As a tribute to Mumbai’s glorious textile past, the BMC has decided to construct a textile museum at the defunct India United Mill compound in Kalachowki. The project aims to archive the city’s textile mills’ culture. The textile museum will cover an area of 44,000 square metre at the India United Mill compound. Works on the first phase will be carried out across an area of 10,000 square metre in the mill premises. Phase one includes beautification and landscaping around a lake inside the compound; setting up of an exhibition centre; and a multipurpose plaza with art stalls, murals depicting a bygone era, and a cafeteria. The estimated cost of these works is around Rs 6.2 crore.

The BMC also plans to start a light-and-music laser show, for which a separate tender will be issued within a fortnight. A senior official from the civic heritage department said, “Students of the J.J. School of Arts have prepared designs for the show showcasing the old days of the Girangaon culture. The request for proposal (RFP) will soon be sought from bidders to set up the show. We need technical expertise for this.”

Meanwhile, the second phase of the project includes construction of a textile museum with textile galleries, exhibition spaces, display of generations of mill workers, machines and other historical aspects. The official said, “The project will be kick-started in the next four to five months.”