12 years on, Maharashtra floats bids for Dharavi redevelopment

“The developer will be in charge of constructing free tenements for eligible slumdwellers as well as providing various amenities and infrastructure, roads, water supply, sewerage, schools, hospitals, commercial tenements and so on. The developer who offers the highest value to the state government will be picked after scrutinising his technical and financial qualifications,” an official from the project authority said.

Under the project, developers will be allowed a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4 and will have to build free houses of 300 square feet carpet area for slumdwellers eligible for free rehousing, with another 50 square feet to be added in each flat through fungible FSI in the form of flowerbeds, niches and so on. FSI refers to the ratio of the permissible construction area to the plot size. The government has clarified that the developer will not get any additional compensatory FSI or sale incentive on this fungible FSI.

While developers can bid for more than one sector, the authority will award four selected developers one sector each.

Besides constructing rehab tenements, the sale component, amenities and infrastructure, the developer in charge of every sector will have complete responsibility for that particular sector.

“The developer will be required to hold consultations with the slumdwellers and the non-slum occupants and seek their cooperation, and prepare a list of all slumdwellers in the sector and occupants of other buildings and chawls within eight months of signing the development agreement,” the official said.

The chosen developer will also be in charge of getting all boundaries demarcated by the superintendent of land records, maps of all slum structures and chawls, layout plans of rehabilitation and sale buildings, and obtaining all necessary permissions and approvals, he added.

Moreover, on completion of the project, the developer in charge will also be liable to maintain all rehab buildings, amenity buildings, streetlights, fire fighting systems and so on for five years.

As per state government estimates, the Dharavi redevelopment project will lead to creation of about 1.08 lakh houses, of which 40,000 will form part of the four developers’ sale component across the four sectors. Of the remaining 68,000 houses, the government will require about 55,000 to house eligible slumdwellers, while the rest will add to its affordable housing stock.

This is the second attempt of the government at bidding out the Dharavi revamp project. In 2007, the former Congress-NCP government had invited Expressions of Interest for the project, prompting 14 developers to respond, of which seven later backed out. The bids were found to be faulty, and were ultimately cancelled in 2011.