MUMBAI: In the case of Dharavi’s redevelopment, the state, realising only 50 acres of the 246 acres of salt pan land will be immediately available for rental housing for ineligible residents following litigation, is looking at an alternative by providing incentives in the form of FSI to developers.
To facilitate the process, the state housing department on Friday issued a government resolution allowing the Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Ltd or DRPPL to purchase land outside the Dharavi Notified Area (DNA) for rental housing. DRPPL will be given an incentive FSI (Floor Space Index) of 1.33 for saleable component in exchange for constructing the rental housing, states the GR.
“The lessees of the salt pans have challenged the decision to hand over land to the Dharavi redevelopment project for rental housing. Practically everything is under litigation except an area of 50 acres. There is already a litigation on ownership of a section of the salt pans between the Centre and state govt,” a source said.
The land is to be purchased in the name of DRP (Dharavi Redevelopment Project)/SRA (Slum Rehabilitation Authority). The GR states the land should possibly be purchased within 10 kms of the Dharavi Notified Area, adding if the land is not available, then it can construct the rental housing in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, as previously decided.
While the Centre recently approved transfer of salt pans to the state govt, which in turn announced transfer to the DRP, unavailability of the entire parcel of salt pans has come as a rude shock to the implementers of the project.
The salt pans include Arthur Salt Works land (120.5 acres) at Kanjurmarg, Jenkins Salt Works Land (77 acres) at Bhandup and Jamasp Salt Works Land (58.5 acres) at Mulund.
The state govt has formed a Special Purpose Vehicle, Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd, of which Adani Realty, the lead developer own,s 80% equity while the state govt owns 20% equity. The DRP and Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) are part of the DRPPL.
The state govt had claimed 120 acres of salt pan land at Kanjurmarg for the Metro 3 car shed. The Centre had challenged the ownership. The govt has announced rental housing for the ineligible Dharavi residents who are estimated at 3-4 lakh households.
