MUMBAI: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has began the process to avail Rs 4,000 crore loan to execute development of Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar, a roughly 75-acre slum sprawl, located off Eastern Express Highway at Ghatkopar. MMRDA on Saturday floated ‘expression of interest’ to seek the Rs 4,000 crore loan to find this project.
Metropolitan commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee said, “We will use this fund for all works related to redevelopment of this project.”
MMRDA has already prepared the ‘detailed project report’. Terms and conditions for the loan will be publicised by MMRDA on February 5 and repayment period is likely to be 15 years.
MMRDA said it will able to provide rehabilitation for 16,575 slum-dwellers, said sources. Also, it will be able to get 5,000 more tenements for persons affected due to various projects that are under execution.
A survey of slum-dwellers will be carried out by Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), which also be responsible for handing over possession of the vacant land to MMRDA. The authority will take 3 years to execute the project from the day the land is handed over by SRA.
MMRDA’s primary role is to develop infrastructure, which includes road projects, flyovers and Metro corridors. This is the first time that the development body will venture into a slum redevelopment project.
In the past, it has executed a rental housing project in the region by granting floor space index to the builder.. The housing stock was then handed to project-affected people.
The proposal to execute this SRA project was placed before the authority at a meeting held at Nagpur under the chairmanship of chief minister Eknath Shinde on December 12.
MMRDA estimates that it will be to earn Rs 1,073 crore from sale component of residential tenements if they are built by the development agency. However, it will be able to earn Rs 2,918 crore if the sale component is sold to a developer who will then build and sell his housing stock in the market.
The deal will also be financially lucrative for the development agency which has been looking at various options to shore up revenues. MMRDA faces cash crunch considering the enormous amount it is going to spend on projects this decade.
The development authority has also sought 10% of the funds from the Union government and another 25% from BMC for execution of various metro projects.
