In a landmark move to address Maharashtra’s housing challenges and accelerate inclusive urban growth, the Maharashtra Cabinet, approved the much-anticipated state housing policy titled ‘Majhe Ghar – Majhe Adhikar’ (My Home – My Rights).
With an ambitious investment outlay of ?70,000 crore, the policy aims to construct 35 lakh (3.5 million) homes over the next five years, making it one of the most comprehensive housing blueprints in the state’s history.
The introduction of self-redevelopment cells, a dedicated ?2,000 crore funding for redevelopment projects, and streamlined compliances will unlock redevelopment opportunities in land-constrained cities and resolve stalled projects. Furthermore, CSR utilization and the ?20,000 crore MahaWas Niwas Nidhi fund signify a commitment to creating slum-free cities, ensuring social housing projects, and better living standards for citizens.
Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who also serves as the housing minister had stated, “In view of increasing urbanisation, the redevelopment cell will encourage cooperative housing societies to take up redevelopment projects independently. To encourage walkto-work living, the policy mandates that 10% to 30% of land designated for amenity plots in industrial areas be reserved exclusively for residential use. Orders for inclusive housing have been given not only to large municipal corporations with a population of more than 10 lakhs but also to all Metropolitan Region Development Authorities.”
Sharing the background to the current situation of Mumbai redevelopment story Dr. Ratoola Kundu, Assistant Professor, Centre for Urban Policy and Governance, School of Habitat Studies, TISS Mumbai said, “Redevelopment is a continuous and intensely contested process of transforming the built environment in Mumbai with serious consequences for the ways in which people live, work and interact socially with each other in the city.
There are several types and scales of ongoing redevelopment projects – from the large-scale transformation of erstwhile mill lands, to the rebuilding of old and dilapidated housing stock in the island city, to the more controversial practices of in-situ slum redevelopment.
Since the nineties, private developers have been encouraged and facilitated by the government of Maharashtra to bring in their expertise and finances in order to refurbish and add to the housing stock in Mumbai.
This has been facilitated through various modifications and amendments to the development control regulations wherein extra FSI has been granted to the developers as a means to recuperate the project costs and to make a sizeable profit through the sales component of the project.”
The city’s planners, politicians, and citizens have long sought a silver bullet to fix its multitude of challenges. The new housing policy, no doubt is a step in the right direction. However, question arises, will it address the deeper urban malaise, afflicting the city of Mumbai?
THE CASE FOR REDEVELOPMENT
Redevelopment in Mumbai encompasses a range of initiatives aimed at replacing old, dilapidated, or informal settlements with new, modern constructions. These projects include the redevelopment of:
- Cessed buildings and chawls in South Mumbai,
- Slum clusters through Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) schemes,
- MHADA colonies, and
- Massive infrastructure overhauls like Metro networks, the Coastal Road, and the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.
At its core, redevelopment aims to modernize Mumbai’s built environment, optimize land use, and uplift the standard of living for its residents. However, its effectiveness and equity remain contested.
The recent project undertaken is the redevelopment of Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Kamaraj Nagar in Ghatkopar on land area of over 78.6 acres comprising around 17,000 slum dwellers.
“This will be Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) first direct slum redevelopment project that aims to transform a densely populated slum cluster into a well-planned residential township.” To ensure financial viability and people centric development, MMRDA has devised a multi-source funding strategy. Out of the total Rs 8,498 crore project cost, Rs 3,916 Of the total funding, 46% will come from institutional loans and 39% from internal revenue sources.” said Sanjay Mukherjee, IAS, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.
There is no doubt, redevelopment offers significant opportunities for modernization and improved living standards. It can address issues like aging infrastructure and rising housing demand, the major challenges of Mumbai.
Upgrading Unsafe Housing: Mumbai’s aging housing stock, especially in island city is structurally unsound and redevelopment is the only way to replace these with safer, permanent structures.
Efficient Land Utilization: Mumbai has scarce land availability where horizontal expansion is limited. The redevelopment provides scope of vertical growth via increased Floor Space Index (FSI) to accommodate more housing and commercial space on the same footprint of land.
Urban Modernization: Goes without saying, redevelopment of old unsightly buildings and neighborhoods into modern structures not only revitalizes the city, but also brings in upgraded infrastructure—wider roads, better sewage systems, and more green spaces—at least in theory.
Potential for Affordable Housing: Most redevelopment projects also have a component of free housing for eligible slum dwellers and economically weaker sections, which, if delivered efficiently, could address the housing deficit.
Rajiv Agrawal, Co-Founder of Saarathi Realtors, company that focuses on real estate development projects in Mumbai stated, “Redevelopment does offer better living conditions, especially when compared to the informal or unsafe structures many original residents lived in previously. It provides them with legally owned, structurally sound homes equipped with basic services like water, sanitation, and electricity, which is a major step forward.
While amenities are important, the core priority remains housing for all. Ensuring dignity, safety, and a sense of permanence is itself a significant improvement in quality of life. That said, redevelopment models must continue to evolve to strike a balance between density, infrastructure, and access to open spaces and amenities.”
There are several types and scales of ongoing redevelopment projects – from the large-scale transformation of erstwhile mill lands, to the rebuilding of old and dilapidated housing stock in the island city, to the more controversial practices of in-situ slum redevelopment.
MUMBAI AT CROSSROADS: REALITY CHECK 2025
Redevelopment is a continuous and intensely contested process of transforming the built environment in Mumbai with serious consequences for the ways in which people live, work and interact socially with each other in the city. Despite its promise, the redevelopment story in 2025 is not without significant caveats:
Displacement and Delays: Many projects have stalled midway due to legal disputes, lack of funding, or developer bankruptcies, leaving residents in limbo. Temporary accommodations often stretch into years, with little accountability for the original dwellers displaced.
Profit Over Public Interest: Developers frequently prioritize high-end housing or commercial spaces over affordable units. The result is gentrification—displacing the very communities these projects were meant to serve, often sent to city peripheries.
Strain on Infrastructure: Redevelopment often overlooks systemic upgrades in favor of cosmetic change. High-rises built without proportional infrastructure upgrades add to traffic congestion, water shortages, and sewage overflows.
Social and environmental Impact: Old neighborhoods possess strong community ties. Redevelopment often fragments these bonds, leading to social isolation and loss of local cultures. Redevelopment has also been linked to shrinking green spaces, destruction of mangroves, and worsening of urban flooding—especially when environmental safeguards are ignored.
While in popular perception the redevelopment of slums is a win-win situation for slum dwellers, the private developer and the government – in reality it produces poorly constructed vertical slums.
Architect Premnath, Prem Nath & Associates talking about the challenges and opportunities of urbanization of Mumbai said, “There is an urgent necessity of collaborative action and accountable governance. Goa’s failed TDR policy as an example of systemic problems and it highlights the importance of prioritizing longterm livability over short-term gains.”
Dr. Ratoola Kundu points out the redevelopment of the mill lands as a lost opportunity for the city. She stated, “It failed to generate inclusive and accessible open spaces and affordable housing, which had been the original intention behind the plans for redeveloping the lands on which the derelict mills stood. Instead, it led to the transformation of the industrial heart of the city into an exclusive and gated commercial and residential hub while at the same time, disrupting the lives of families dependent on the mills and who had been living in the surrounding chawls for generations. The complete socio-spatial transformation of the area is seen as a form of structural violence wherein mill workers families have lost not only their livelihoods, but have been fragmented and displaced as a community, while being excluded from the spaces they grew up in.”
Sharing his thoughts on controversy of high FSI for redevelopment projects Rajiv Agrawal explained, “Maximizing FSI in hyper-dense areas like Dharavi or Kamathipura can coexist with the principles of liveability and adequate open space, but only if supported by thoughtful, inclusive planning and strong policy frameworks.
Given Mumbai’s urgent need for housing, especially for lower-income groups, higher FSI is a necessary tool to achieve the goal of ‘housing for all’. But it is critical that higher density is accompanied by commensurate investment in infrastructure, parks and open spaces, and public amenities.
Across the world, successful cities have shown that it is possible to maintain a high quality of life with highdensity living, as long as urban planning is integrated and far-sighted. It is the responsibility of the government to see that models of redevelopment are not merely vertical, but also long-term sustainable and livable.
So, Is It a Panacea?
A “panacea” suggests a universal cure-all. In that sense, redevelopment falls short. While it is a powerful tool in urban transformation, it is far from a comprehensive solution. At best, it can alleviate some of Mumbai’s structural problems—provided it is guided by inclusive planning, transparent governance, and a commitment to equity.
REDEVELOPMENT: BOON OR BANE
With respect to the redevelopment of the old and dilapidated buildings in the island city, redevelopment is both a boon and a bane.
Dr. Ratoola Kundu highlights both aspects, “From the point of view of the city, transformations of the built form through redevelopment has generated its own set of wicked problems as these new towers lack proper access roads, the supporting infrastructure such as train stations are not equipped to handle the additional load of office commuters, and that many of the commercial establishments in these high valued commercial spaces have failed to follow the building norms posing fire hazards, parking challenges and water supply issues.
Given the age of the buildings and the complete lack of repair or maintenance by the land lords or MHADA, tenants living in these buildings have welcomed the prospect of moving into improved structures where they have basic facilities such as their individual toilets, kitchens and parking spaces. However, here too, redevelopment projects have led to tenants being moved to shabby and far-off transit camps where they have languished for years as the projects have halted abruptly due to lack of finances or legal hassles.
The social fabric of these once vibrant neighbourhoods is torn apart and replaced by distrust between community members, between tenants and land lords, and between the community and the developers. There is little or no social interaction between the original inhabitants who live in the rehab component and the new residents who have bought apartments in the sale component, even though sometimes, these apartments are housed within the same building (but with different entrances) or within the same gated complex. Essentially, class inequalities are inscribed into the very materiality of these redeveloped residential complexes.
In the case of slum redevelopment projects under the much-valorised Slum Rehabilitation Policy, one of the crucial blind spots has been to ignore the reality of informal settlements as comprising work, community and living spaces. While in popular perception the redevelopment of slums is a win-win situation wherein slum dwellers get a free apartment, the private developer gets land and extra FSI or Transferable Development Rights, and the government simply facilitates this without spending any money - in reality it produces poorly constructed vertical slums, further ghettoising the poor, while they lose their spaces and means of livelihoods which used to thrive in these settlements - such as informal recycling hubs, small scale industries, handicrafts etc.”
In short, redevelopment regime in Mumbai has increasingly produced uneven development, reinforced socio-spatial inequality and robbed the city of public amenities while generating huge profits for developers who have an enormous influence over the planning and development of the city. This demands a rethink about the nature of redevelopment projects and to restoring socio-spatial inclusivity within them instead of reproducing a fragmented city.
Rajiv Agrawal emphasizes on the role of government in ensuring that redevelopment doesn’t displace the socioeconomic fabric of communities. “The government plays a critical role in safeguarding the socio-economic fabric of communities during redevelopment. To begin with, it should introduce a single-window clearance system to streamline approvals and make the redevelopment process more efficient and transparent. Reducing bureaucratic steps not only saves time but also cuts costs, which can otherwise burden both developers and beneficiaries.
Additionally, the government should offer planning relaxations and enhanced FSI to ensure that projects are financially viable while still accommodating the original residents. Most importantly, redevelopment should not just be about buildings, it must preserve the cultural, social, and economic dynamics of the community by ensuring in-situ rehabilitation, livelihood continuity, and inclusive planning that engages residents throughout the process.”
Redevelopment regime in Mumbai has increasingly produced uneven development & reinforced socio-spatial inequality. This demands a rethink about the nature of redevelopment projects.
REDEVELOPMENT: A TOOL NOT PANACEA
Redevelopment in Mumbai is not the panacea many hoped for in 2025. But it remains a crucial piece of the puzzle. If wielded with care, foresight, and fairness, it can be part of a larger urban renaissance. Without these safeguards, it risks becoming yet another tale of misplaced priorities and missed opportunities in the ever-evolving story of India’s financial capital.
Veteran Engineer & Architect Jashwant Mehta, Founder, Jashwant Mehta & Associates highlighted Hong Kong’s successful slum rehabilitation, reducing slum populations from 40% to zero between 1965 and 1985. In contrast, Mumbai’s slum population increased from 12% to 40% during the same period due to flawed policies.
Hong Kong’s approach included: - Aerial surveys and strict antiencroachment policies - Housing authority control with 20 sq.m base units and most importantly, professional governance without political interference.
Mumbai’s failures include the 70% consent rule, complex NOC requirements, and lack of technical capacity. Hong Kong’s example shows that technical governance, not political compromise, can eradicate slums.”
Mandar Mahavir, Senior Architect, John R Harris points out Mumbai’s urban planning potential through:
- Prioritizing walking infrastructure
- Unified transport authority
- Autonomous urban local body for equitable development
Redevelopment projects like BDD Chawls and Bhendi Bazaar can create mixed-use, mixed-class communities. Integration with metro, suburban rail, pedestrian, and cycling infrastructure can enhance connectivity. A unified transport authority and autonomous local body can drive sustainable mobility, reduce congestion, and create vibrant, inclusive urban hubs.”
Rajiv Agrawal concluded, “Inclusivity should be the core guiding principle for future redevelopment. Without inclusivity, of people, purpose, and planning, density becomes unsustainable, climate resilience becomes secondary, and heritage preservation loses its context. Inclusive redevelopment ensures that all stakeholders, especially original residents, are part of the growth story. It promotes equitable access to housing, infrastructure, and opportunities while allowing for thoughtful integration of climate resilience and cultural identity. A truly inclusive approach lays the foundation for long-term, holistic urban transformation.”
