Mumbai’s Dharavi Redevelopment Project to Receives a 27-Acre Railway Land

The Dharavi Redevelopment Project is ongoing redevelopment project, with 27.6 acres of land acquired for modern housing and amenities. Within three years of launch, Adani Group will invest Rs 5,069 crore in the Redevelopment of Dharavi.

The project to rehabilitate residents of Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum, comprising 27.6 acres of the required 45 acres from the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA), has received the first major milestone. The land will also be used to create modern housing and recreational facilities for railway employees as well as rehabilitation apartments for eligible tenants in Dharavi.

According to documents, RLDA handed over a 27.6-acre land parcel (including scrapyard) to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) on March 13.

DRP is a nodal agency of the state government to implement the project spread over an area of 600 acres, where around 12 lakh people live.

In a letter to the Deputy Chief Engineer, DRP, on March 13, Sanjeev Jain, Deputy General Manager, RLDA, said the revised layout plan for the development was “examined by the Railways and concurred with certain observations”. The letter states that vacant or open land, encumbered area below slums and some land below abandoned buildings at the site (other than the existing railway operational area and existing railway facilities and amenities) are to be handed over after noon on 12 march.

The DRP official confirmed getting possession of the land and said the remaining portion would also be available soon.

Dharavi township and complex will have to be designed by an architect. “The DRP has assured the Railways that it will construct the entire complex spread over approximately one million square feet in three years after receiving the commencement certificate,” said a railway official.

The complex will have four multi-storey apartment blocks, three of which will house 821 flats on 36 floors with modern amenities, a sports-cum-recreation area and a modern administrative building.

DRP gave land worth Rs 1,000 crore to Railways. After 17 years, an additional Rs 2,800 crore will be provided through minimum revenue share from the income of Dharavi redevelopment.

Of the 27.6 acres, 15 acres of encroached land is rented out for $5,000 per year. The bid for redevelopment of Dharavi was won by Adani Group in November 2022 with an initial equity investment of Rs 5,069 crore. In 2019, the state government agreed to give over 45 acres of land to the Union Railway Ministry. It was signed as a definitive agreement and came into effect on October 18, 2022, after Eknath Shinde became the chief minister.