The Maharashtra government has invited global tenders to redevelop Dharavi, one of the largest slums in Asia, into an integrated township under a Rs 22,000-crore project.

Maharashtra’s Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) put out advertisements in newspapers, stating that the last date for submitting the bids for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) is December 28.

The state government has been planning Dharavi’s redevelopment since 2004, but nothing has materialised so far due to the multiplicity of stakeholders occupying the 535 acres of prime land in the heart of Mumbai.

According to the guidelines, the selected lead partner will have to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with 80 per cent equity (Rs 400 crore) and the Maharashtra government will hold the rest of the equity in the project.

The SPV will construct free houses for eligible slum dwellers and will also be entitled to construct houses for sale in the open market. The state government has fixed a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4 for the project. FSI is the ratio between the built-up space to the area of land on which a building stands.

According to Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Property Consultants, “Building affordable to mid-range housing projects here would completely reinvent the residential real estate equation of Central Mumbai and also make a major contribution to the Central Government’s Housing for All by 2022 target.”

However, it will not be easy for the Maharashtra government to go ahead with the plan. “Dharavi is not an area of contention and confusion on the basis of costs alone. The biggest question is of land ownership and relocation of its existing inhabitants. In terms of land ownership, almost one-fifth of the land here is privately-owned,” he added.

Over 60,000 families live in Dharavi currently. The DRP, when completed, can change the entire real estate scenario here. “Dharavi rubs shoulders with upmarket Bandra and is right next to the avant-garde Bandra-Kurla Complex. This makes Dharavi an incredibly attractive proposition for home-buyers, investors and developers alike,” he said.