Mumbai: Almost two years after the government asked various state-run corporations to undertake slum redevelopment at 228 locations through joint ventures (JVs) with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), 181 projects have been scrapped as the agencies made little progress and many were found not feasible.
Status of JV Projects
Of its 77 planned JVs, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now implement only 44. The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) will proceed with just two of its 24 JVs, and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) with one of its five. The remaining projects will be handled by the SRA, either as part of its cluster slum redevelopment scheme or regular schemes, depending on the state government's decision.
Reasons for Scrapping
SRA CEO Mahindra Kalyankar, who has been pushing for policy reforms in SRA, said most of the schemes earmarked for JVs had not made any progress through the assigned agencies. "The projects were not feasible in many cases. So now, the JV scheme has been scrapped, barring a few with BMC, Mhada and MMRDA. The rest of the proposed JV schemes are back with SRA and will be redeveloped either under the new cluster redevelopment scheme or through any other SRA scheme as decided by the state government. Only 47 schemes have been retained under JVs," he said.
Officials said some of the JV schemes overlapped with slum clusters that have been identified. "So once they are approved by a high-powered committee to be constituted under additional chief secretary, housing, and then by the state government, they will be redeveloped," said an official.
Background
In September 2024, the state government had asked multiple agencies, including BMC, MMRDA, MSRDC, Mhada, MahaPreit, MIDC and Cidco, to redevelop slums on government land in JVs with SRA. Officials said all 228 slum projects had been stalled for many years. Nearly 2.2 lakh families live in these slums on government land.
According to a government resolution (GR), the state-run agencies and corporations were to appoint architects for the projects, prepare detailed feasibility reports and detailed planning proposals, conduct biometric surveys of slum dwellers and identify those eligible, pay rent or make alternative arrangements for transit camps, and construct rehabilitation buildings. "But none of the schemes made any significant progress through the JV partner agencies," the GR said.
