After Dharavi project, Adani Group wins Rs 36,000 cr redevelopment of Motilal Nagar in Mumbai

Motilal Nagar I, II & III is one of Mumbai’s biggest housing redevelopment projects, covering 143 acres in western suburb of Goregaon (W)

New Delhi: After the Dharavi slum redevelopment project, billionaire Gautam Adani’s group has emerged as the highest bidder for the Rs 36,000 crore redevelopment of Motilal Nagar in Mumbai, sources said.

Motilal Nagar I, II & III is one of Mumbai’s biggest housing redevelopment projects, covering 143 acres in western suburb of Goregaon (W).

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Adani Properties Pvt Ltd (APPL) emerged as the highest bidder, offering more built-up area than its nearest rival, L&T, sources aware of the matter said.

Letter of Allotment (LoA) will be issued in due course.

This will be the second mega redevelopment project of Adani Group in Mumbai. It is already redeveloping Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest slums in Mumbai. Adani Group did not offer any comments on the story.

The Mumbai High Court last week gave the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) a go-ahead to redevelop Motilal Nagar through a construction and development agency (C&DA).

The State government has declared it as a ‘special project’, with the MHADA retaining control over it but working through a C&DA in absence of the necessary potential to accomplish the work, based on economic viability and its capability.

In Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (now called Navbharat Mega Developers Pvt Ltd), Adani Group held an 80 per cent stake while the rest was with the State government.

Under the Dharavi project, Adani plans to turn 620 acres of prime land, about three-quarters of the size of New York’s Central Park, into a glitzy urban hub. About 1 million people live in rickety shanties with open sewers and shared toilets in the densely populated slums, close to Mumbai’s international airport.

Eligible residents will be given flats of up to 350 square feet free of cost as part of the $3 billion redevelopment of rubbish-strewn Mumbai slum of Dharavi into a ‘world-class’ district.

It will look to turn Motilal Nagar into modern apartments. The total estimated redevelopment cost of Motilal Nagar is around Rs 36,000 crore, and the rehabilitation period is seven years from the project start/commencement date.

As per tender conditions for Motilal Nagar redevelopment, the C&DA must give a housing stock of 3.83 million square meters. The APPL won the bid by agreeing to hand over 3.97 million sq mt to the MHADA. The other qualified bidder, L&T quoted the figure of 2.6 million sq mt.

The MHADA retains full control over the project, including ownership of the land. It tendered for the redevelopment due to its own financial and technical limitations in handling such a large-scale redevelopment.

Sources said the project aims to eliminate illegal construction and create a planned, well-integrated community in a holistic manner. The private developer cannot mortgage the land, raise finance on it, or sell/transfer rights without MHADA’s permission, according to the tender conditions.

The project will rehabilitate 3,372 residential units eligible under the MHADA, 328 eligible commercial units and 1,600 eligible slum tenements as per the 1971 Slum Act.