By March 2025, construction for Dharavi redevelopment to begin

MUMBAI: The construction work for Dharavi redevelopment will begin on 47.5 acres of railway land in the next 6-8 months. This is around the same time when the state government authorities expect the survey of Dharavi to be completed by Adani Group-led Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Limited (DRPPL).
The announcement was made on August 29, at the third edition of ‘The Real Estate Forum 2024’ organised by National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), an apex body of real estate developers.
At present, DRPPL is conducting a survey, and officially, 10,000 tenements have been surveyed inside Dharavi. On the other hand, the Indian Railway authorities have stated that the process of handing over the rail land at Mahim and Matunga has begun, and demolition of residential staff quarters has started. The rail authorities also said that DRPPL has set up an office in its land.
SVR Srinivas, chief executive officer (CEO), Dharavi Redevelopment Project, said the survey of Dharavi tenements is on and will likely be completed by March 2025. “The construction work will start with the railway land in the next six to eight months. Until now, we have surveyed around 10,000 tenements which are eligible and ineligible tenements. The total number of tenements will be known once the survey is completed,” said Srinivas.
This comes at a time when local residents are protesting the survey in various parts of Dharavi, the redevelopment of which is said to be a pilot project for making Mumbai slum free. “The survey is going on at a very slow pace. Whatever the government bodies are saying is not completely accurate. There is still no clarity from DRPPL on several aspects of this redevelopment,” said a resident of Dharavi, on behalf of the people residing in this 600-acre slum pocket.
Dharavi Redevelopment Project is a slum rehabilitation project where both eligible and ineligible tenements will be given a house. For housing ineligible tenements, DRP officials said they need around 550-acre of land, which they have sought from salt pan lands, BEST bus depots and dairy land. The officials said that they have not been given any land as yet. In November 2022, Adani Group won the Dharavi redevelopment project with an initial investment of ₹5,069 crore.
Dharavi redevelopment is said to be a benchmark for redevelopment of other slums in the city to make Mumbai slum-free. At the conclave, NAREDCO formally requested the state government to allocate 5000 slums which can be redeveloped. Niranjan Hiranandani, chairman, NAREDCO, said: “The initiative to redevelop 5,000 slums is a significant step towards strengthening Public-Private Partnerships and redefining the landscape of Mumbai’s real estate sector. We aim to play a pivotal role in transforming Mumbai into a slum-free city, setting a benchmark for urban redevelopment and inclusive growth.”
Moreover, to boost affordable and overall housing, the state government may consider the demand made by developers to grant further concessions in registration and stamp duty.
Atul Save, minister of housing, said, “NAREDCO, on behalf of its developer members, has requested further concessions in stamp duty and registration of housing properties to boost housing sales. We will positively think about granting any such further concessions.” The minister appealed to real estate developers to invest in building 0.125 million houses for mill workers in Mumbai. The government is likely to introduce new policies such as Amnesty scheme for stalled SRA projects and new PAP Policy for timely completion of redevelopment projects.