Long-stalled Dharavi redevelopment to get a fresh push

Mumbai The Maharashtra government has decided to float fresh tenders for the Dharavi redevelopment project that has been in limbo for the past 18 years

Mumbai The Maharashtra government has decided to float fresh tenders for the Dharavi redevelopment project that has been in limbo for the past 18 years. The project was first announced by the then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in February 2004.

The tendering process for the project has failed multiple times in for reasons such as mixed usage of land in Dharavi (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

On Wednesday, the state cabinet approved the setting up of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for integrated development of the 535-acre project, which aims to transform India’s largest slum pocket into a plush township. To make the project viable for developers, the cabinet has decided to make a 45-acre railway land parcel adjacent to Dharavi part of the fresh tender.

An SPV is an entity formed for a specific purpose — mainly for infrastructure and redevelopment projects. In this SPV, the state government will have a 20% stake and 80% will be offered to the international consortium that wins the bid to redevelop the area.

The tendering process for the project has failed multiple times in for reasons such as mixed usage of land in Dharavi, the eligibility criteria for rehabilitation of tenants and market slowdowns, among others. In the new plan, the state will give free houses to around 60,000 families and rehabilitate 12,976 commercial units that were set up in Dharavi until 2000.

In 2019, the Maharashtra government had taken the 45-acre land parcel on a 99-year lease for the redevelopment of Dharavi. It has also paid an amount of ₹800 crore for the land to be used for the project but the plot is yet to be handed over.

On Wednesday, the state government also decided to implement the government order issued on November 5, 2018, which provides several sops and incentives to the developer.

Being a special project, the state government will waive stamp duty on development agreement and development rights to be signed between SPV and Dharavi redevelopment project or slum redevelopment authority (SRA). It will waive off stamp duty on the sale of the first lot of residential and commercial tenements and land to be acquired for rehabilitation and construction of transit camps for the tenants, states the GR issued on November 8, 2018.

It will further waive the property tax on the land where construction work will happen for the next seven years and the land that will be used for transit camps in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).