18 builders vie for 34-acre plot

Eighteen major developers are now in the fray competing for rights to redevelop the 34-acre Abhyudaya Nagar, a prime real estate area in Kalachowkie.

Eighteen major developers are now in the fray competing for rights to redevelop the 34-acre Abhyudaya Nagar, a prime real estate area in Kalachowkie. The Abhyudaya Nagar Federation has now appointed architect Hafeez Contractor and legal brain Parimal Shroff to shortlist developers who will revamp the colony.

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They have devised a selection matrix to determine the financial, technical and other capabilities of the developer to help in the selection process. Contractor has called it a dream project. “It is going to be a great township with all modern amenities in place,” Contractor said.

Six developers will be selected by Contractor and placed before the federation who would then place it before the people who would take the final call.

Prominent developers like Shreepati-DB Realty, Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), S D Corporation (venture between Shapoorji Pallonji and Dilip Thakkar), Vignaharta Developers Private Limited and Mangalmurti Developers are major contenders.

They have promised spacious houses up to 750 square feet, lifetime free maintenance, free parking spaces, and so on. Sunil Mane, MD, Vignaharta Developers, said, “As I have undertaken a lot of projects in Lalbaug and am available round the clock personally, people want me to execute the project.

Hari Prakash Pande, V-P, finance, of HDIL, which has till now confined its construction activity to the suburbs, said, “It will help us enter the south Mumbai market.” Abhyudaya Nagar is one of the largest layouts constructed by MHADA in 1957 for industrial workers.

“All care will be taken that the original residents are not displaced,” said Ketan Chavan, secretary, Abhudaya Nagar Federation.

However, critics have called it a sell-out to the builders’ lobby. “The place will only house the rich,” Narayan Ghagres, a communist leader, said.