Half of Mumbai slums will be accommodated between Neral-Karjat as part of affordable housing scheme

The NAREDCO Progressive Neral-Karjat organized the Manthan Affordable City Initiative, with the intention to provide affordable housing along with proper infrastructure. 'NAREDCO Progressive Neral-Karjat' is the Neral-Karjat chapter of the apex real estate industry body. At least 50% of Mumbai slums can be accommodated at Neral-Karjat - An affordable City Mumbai 3.0

Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (DCM), on the occasion stated that the government is taking all the necessary steps to provide the necessary infrastructure for the people. “We plan to develop infrastructure, knowledge-based industries, and research centers around the Neral- Karjat region. Considering this the government has taken various infrastructure projects,” he said.

The DCM stated that many of these projects would be completed by the year 2023. The Government is committed to developing Neral-Karjat, Panvel, and NAINA as Mumbai 3.0. “This would offer seamless connectivity to the people of MMR. A representation has also been received to develop the Panvel-Bhimashankar highway and convert it into a Multimodal corridor,” he informed via a video message. He added that the four lanes of Kalyan Badlapur would be extended to Karjat station to facilitate more local service to the growing population.

Shri S V R Srinivas, Additional Chief Secretary & Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA pointed out that the residents of the MMR regions are living in one of the best times. “A lot of infrastructure projects like the Mumbai-Trans Harbour Link project and the Metro projects are either complete or at the completion stage”, he said to those present at the event through a video link.

Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, National Vice Chairman, NAREDCO stated that due to a lot of infrastructure activities undertaken by the government, the center of gravity is constantly shifting. “Imagine, it took almost 60 years to develop 190 km of railways, but in the next 5 years, almost 300 km of Metro rail would be set up” he added.

A report by NAREDCO-Knight Frank titled ‘Brick by Brick: Reimagining Affordable Mumbai’ was also launched at the event. According to the report, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) recorded a significant demand-supply gap for affordable housing.

The report cited that MMR registered high demand for affordable housing units with 67% of the demand concentration being registered for units less than Rs 2.5 million. The demand concentration for housing units in the range of Rs 2.5 – 5.0 million was recorded at 13% and units above Rs 5 million at 20%.

According to Gautam Thacker, Chairman, NAREDCO Neral-Karjat informed that there is a huge shortage of affordable housing in the country. Thacker informed that the idea is to develop a carbon-neutral region with the proper infrastructure and connected to multi-nodal points which would offer smooth connectivity to the residents there.

Despite the strong interest in this segment, the affordable housing supply has not been able to cater to the demand. The supply of housing units above Rs 5 million recorded the highest concentration at 44% followed by units in the range of Rs 2.5 – 5 million at 34%. The supply concentration for housing units less than Rs 2.5 million was recorded as the lowest at 22%, clearly showcasing the huge supply gap for urban affordable housing in the region.

The President of NAREDCO Neral-Karjat, Dinesh Doshi stated that the mantra today is more about affordable housing. “The government needs to look at more ways to get the infrastructure in place. The lawmakers need to support the city which would go a long way in helping the common man,” he said.