Hindustan Times 08.12.2010
Redevelopment to get Mhada huge benefitsThe Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) can get a whopping buildable area of 95.28 lakh square metres to construct up to 4 lakh affordable homes through redevelopment of its existing colonies, the state government said on Tuesday. Mhada’s 104 colonies occupy 1,493 hectares of land in Mumbai city and suburbs. If these colonies are re-built or redeveloped using provisions of the city’s development control rules, a buildable area of 2.98 crore square metres will be available, said Chief Minister Prithivraj Chavan in a written reply to a question asked by legislators Sureshkumar Jethalia and Prashant Bamb in the assembly
The legislators wanted to know why Mhada was selling floor space index (FSI) or buildable area on a particular plot, to private developers whereas it could earn crores by selling flats.
Chavan said there was provision under the relevant rules to give two options to the developers who rebuild MHADA colonies — they can share additional FSI in the ratio of 2:1 with Mhada, or pay premium to the authority for its share of FSI.
However, in September 2010, the Mumbai board of Mhada has passed a resolution that the housing body will not take premium and instead will use the FSI to build more affordable homes in Mumbai, Chavan pointed out in his reply.
