The Maharashtra government is considering a public- private partnership model to develop 10 lakh low-cost homes in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) by acquiring large land parcels through Mhada, the state’s apex housing development body.

“There are large land parcels of 100-500 acres in the MMR region, where owners want to develop them but don't have the finances. We are proposing that we will acquire these land parcels through Mhada and develop affordable homes and compensate the land owners," state housing minister Prakash Mehta said at a CII-CBRE conference on real estate today.

The government is already considering compensation packages for these owners. "It could either be by paying the beneficiary the cost of land as per the ready reckoner rates or build homes for them as compensation. We are yet to come to a conclusion and are hopeful that we will be able to finalise it in the next 10-15 days,” he said.

The policy will then be presented for Cabinet approval, Mehta added.

Rising construction costs as well as land prices have made housing unaffordable for most people in Mumbai, which remains the most expensive city for housing in the country. Last month, the state government decided to open salt pans in Mumbai for affordable housing as part of Mumbai's Development Plan (DP) 2034.

Regarding redevelopment of Dharavi, the third-largest slum in the world, he said the Government has decided to separate commercial and residential development on the land.

“Initially, we had created five sectors for Dharavi redevelopment, but we did not get any response as people thought they were too big to develop. So divided it into 12 sectors but still did not get any response. Now we have decided to make it one sector and separate the commercial and residential development," he said.

The government will invite global tenders for this development and a special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be formed where government will hold 51 per cent share. “By taking 51 per cent stake, we take the major responsibility and help mitigate the risk. We are hopeful that in the next two months the proposal will be finalised,” Mr Mehta added.

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