13 old buildings in Mumbai get Rs350 crore for self redevelopment

With builders hitting monetary and regulatory roadblocks, self-redevelopment is emerging as an alternative model in Mumbai and the MDCC has approved 13 such projects worth Rs350 crore.

The Mumbai District Central Cooperative (MDCC) Bank Limited has launched an initiative to fund self-redevelopment projects for old buildings and colonies in the city, where tenants or owners of the housing society come together, raise funds and undertake the redevelopment themselves.

The Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank has launched an initiative to fund such self-redevelopment projects. (HT File Photo)

With builders hitting monetary and regulatory roadblocks, self-redevelopment is emerging as an alternative model in Mumbai and the MDCC has approved 13 such projects worth Rs350 crore.

The state government has now come out in support of such self-revamp schemes, saying it is planning to start a ‘One Window System’ to expedite the approval process.

“Approval for these projects is a big hurdle. Hence, I have asked the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) to work out a flow chart where we can allow a ‘One Window System’ for such schemes. In fact, we are thinking of making Mhada as the nodal agency so that red-tapism can be eliminated,” said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Pravin Darekar, chairman of MDCC Bank said, the whole initiative is to free the tenants from their dependance on builders. “Here, the entire project is executed by society members, and we fund them. They get the profit that the builder would have made. It ensures that they get more area after redevelopment as compared to what is provided by builders,” said Darekar.

The MDCC has a panel of project management consultants (PMC), architects and civil engineers, who assist the societies in the revamp. The loan money is disbursed to the housing society as per the stages of construction.

The society can sell the saleable flats or give some apartments to the bank as payback for the loan.

However, some concerns, such as, fighting among tenants, tackling issues such as bribes demanded by authorities, and the efficiency of the PMC in executing the work remain.

Builders have been facing a host of issues such as paucity of funds and are struggling to comply with the tough real estate regulatory laws.