18% of city’s real estate opened up by govt for development

Housing for economically vulnerable citizens accounts for half the land unlocked, influencing the narrative of the city’s urban renewal

MUMBAI: A couple of weeks before the assembly elections in November last year, Eknath Shinde, then chief minister, said at an election rally that the Mahayuti government would make Mumbai slum-free. A few months earlier, the state had cleared a proposal to redevelop slum settlements on 31.82 hectares in Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Kamraj Nagar in Ghatkopar east – a decision Shinde described as “just a trailer” of what lay in store.

Mumbai, India - June 29, 2016:Mumbai Skyline in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, June 29, 2016. (Photo by Vijayanand Gupta/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

While the political rhetoric of freeing Mumbai of slums and providing affordable housing resurfaces every five years, this time, the “trailer” Shinde promised turned out to be just a teaser for the blockbuster redevelopment that followed.

The scale of slum rehabilitation in the last few months alone has been sweeping. But it must be seen in the context of the state throwing open vast tracts of land for development and redevelopment – every inch priced like gold. Mumbai is, indeed, in the throes of urban renewal – moulting, rebuilding, remodelling, and rewriting the story of this restless metropolis. A close look at the numbers puts the nature of Mumbai’s transformation into perspective.

Mumbai has 34,000 acres of habitable land, which is 23% of the city’s total area, amounting to 1,49,103 acres. Of this habitable area, as much as 17.71%, or 6,021.50 acres, has been unlocked for development by the central and state governments, according to data sourced by Hindustan Times.

As many as eight government bodies have opened up huge swathes for development and redevelopment – from the Ganpat Patil Nagar slums in Dahisar, to land owned by the Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA) on the eastern waterfront, the Dharavi precinct on the periphery of the BKC business district, and the 19,000-odd crumbling cessed buildings of South Mumbai.

These bodies include SRA, Mhada, MMRDA, MbPA, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport undertaking (BEST), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), among others.

The push towards making Mumbai slum-free has continued even though Shinde is no longer chief minister. If anything, it has gained momentum, through new policies and amendments to existing ones. Owning even a few square feet of real estate in Mumbai has always been the ultimate dream, and for the city’s economically vulnerable citizens, an important vote bank, it’s coming true.

However, urban planner Chandrashekhar Prabhu, a former Mhada president who chaired the advisory committee of the state’s housing department, strikes a note of caution. “Such large-scale unlocking of prime government land and indiscriminate increase in FSI will encourage corruption and also result in gentrification, as the cheapest apartments in the remotest corners will be sold for nothing less than ₹2 crore. In the island city, no decent accommodation is available for less than ₹4 crore.”

He adds, “It is a gross misappropriation of land as a resource, like selling the family gold, and the government not earning anything in return.”

Slums: a new approach

According to Census 2011, Mumbai’s population stood at 1,24,32,830, with 41.30%, or 51,34,759, living under blue tarpaulin-covered roofs where families are packed into rooms the size of a parking space.

Now, under the biggest-ever coordinated push for rehabilitation, the SRA, in collaboration with seven government agencies, is overseeing the redevelopment of slums spread across 2,068 acres.

Through more than 200 projects, the goal is to rehouse 2.07 lakh slum-dwellers squatting on 859.789 acres of land. Among the seven agencies, the biggest slice of the joint slum redevelopment pie, 206.85 acres belongs to the BMC. In second place is Mhada, with 140.467 acres across 21 colonies earmarked for transformation. “We have appointed a project management consultant to redevelop 17,000 slum households in Malwani, and will soon float tenders,” Mhada CEO Sanjeev Jaiswal told Hindustan Times.

This new structure of slum redevelopment is seeing proactive government support to SRA projects, roping in government and civic agencies to expedite issues such as encroachment disputes, delayed permissions, and lack of clarity in land titles.

Rajiv Agrawal, promoter and co-founder of Saarathi Group, involved in slum redevelopment projects, said, “For years, SRA was the sole nodal agency, which often led to limitations in scale and pace. A majority of the projects were led by private developers, and while some succeeded, many were delayed or remained incomplete due to financial, legal or administrative hurdles.”

The government, by bringing in other key government agencies, is now aligning multiple capabilities, land ownership and administrative powers under one coordinated mission. “The new integrated model has and can further unlock hundreds of acres of underutilised land and stuck projects across Mumbai,” said Agrawal.

It was during his stint as chief minister that Eknath Shinde, who also held the housing portfolio, had initiated the move to allow the seven government agencies to enter into joint ventures with SRA.

The first such joint venture was forged between SRA and MMRDA in early 2024, to rehouse 16,575 families from two slum pockets in Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Kamraj Nagar along the Eastern Express Highway. The first phase is likely to launch any time soon.

“The government has taken a decisive step in resolving redevelopment challenges that remained unresolved for decades. By establishing sustainable financial models, we are ensuring that even the most ambitious urban renewal projects are completed with long-term viability,” said MMRDA commissioner, Sanjay Mukherjee.

Prabhu, a former politician and architect, has a contrarian view. “Slum-dwellers will continue to reside in slums, just vertical slums. They will get isolated and continue to reside in ghettos,” he said.

He also said land must not be gifted to private developers under these projects. “The redevelopment of BBD Chawl under the cash contract construction model is not so bad, as the land parcels are not given away to private developers, compared to recent announcements of unlocking Mumbai for private players. The only entity laughing all the way to the bank are developers and their political masters in nexus with the bureaucracy and underworld. According to my estimates, ₹18 lakh crore will be generated through this size and scale of (slum) rehabilitation.”

Mhada: Fast-tracking projects

While the state government allowed SRA to forge joint ventures with other government agencies, it allowed Mhada to adopt a different approach. In April, during the second Redevelopment Conference and Investors Summit hosted by Mhada, the housing authority’s chief Sanjeev Jaiswal revealed game-changing proposals that included fast-tracking redevelopment approvals of old cessed buildings.

The reason was that of the 19,642 cessed buildings in Mumbai, 23% have been redeveloped but 42% are financially unviable due to their small plot size.

Now, redevelopment proposals of old cessed buildings submitted under Sections 79A (1a) or 79A (1b) of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976, accompanied by 51% consent of residents, should be granted a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) within six weeks. “This approval process will now be governed under the Right to Service Act. In the event of any delay beyond the stipulated period, the NOC will be treated as deemed approved,” Jaiswal had said.

Additionally, to make large-scale redevelopment a reality, the state government has rolled out a series of significant policy reforms under the development control regulations (DCR) that regulate land use and development within a city to ensure planned growth and public welfare. These policy reforms are aimed at making realty projects attractive for builders.

These include more Floor Space Index (FSI), reduction in premium payment to the government for commercial development, paying premium in instalments, relaxation in GST of 100% for the rehabilitation portion of the project, clubbing schemes within a 10-km radius, among others.

These amendments and relaxations have led to Mhada opening up 690.81 acres, the third-largest land bank in Mumbai. For now, Adani Realty has bagged the redevelopment of Motilal Nagar I, II and III, spread across 143 acres, in Goregaon west and Keystone Realtors will redevelop GTB Nagar in Sion. Mhada has also invited bids for Abhyudaya Nagar at Kalachowkie and Kamathipura in South Mumbai.

Jaiswal said the projected investment by Mhada for rehabilitation schemes after the liberalisation of policies is ₹6,609 crore, and developers are expected to contribute an estimated ₹1.28 lakh crore. The largest chunk of investment will be made in the Motilal Nagar project, an estimated ₹49,384 crore.

While realtors are cheering the government’s initiatives, calling them “once-in-a-generation’ reforms, in private, they are concerned about the excessive housing inventory that will become available across Mumbai, making the market competitive.

Project management consultant Akbar Jiwani, who specialises in the redevelopment of housing societies, said, “It’s a complete overhaul of the housing ecosystem, if executed well, where all stakeholders will benefit. Developers are likely to get approvals faster and improve profitability, home buyers are likely to get cheaper homes with rental housing options, and for the government it will be a catalyst as an economic multiplier apart from earning it more revenue.”