The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has appointed Keystone Realtors Ltd, part of the Rustomjee Group, to redevelop 25 buildings in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar (GTB Nagar), Sion Koliwada, Mumbai. The redevelopment project aims to rehabilitate over 1,200 Sindhi refugee families along with 200 slum dwellers currently residing in the area. These buildings, originally constructed in the 1950s to house displaced persons following Partition, were declared unsafe in 2020 by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and subsequently demolished. The affected residents have since been living in alternative accommodations at their own expense.
The redevelopment covers approximately 11.20 acres (45,308 square meters) and is expected to generate a gross development value of ₹4,521 crore. Each of the 1,400 eligible families will receive a 635 sq ft apartment free of cost in the newly constructed buildings. MHADA has stated that the project will utilize a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4.5, including the fungible area. In return, MHADA will receive 25,700 square meters of built-up area as housing stock.
The redevelopment of GTB Nagar is significant as it is the first instance where MHADA is undertaking a redevelopment project on privately owned land through a designated construction and development agency. This has been made possible after the Maharashtra government granted approval, responding to repeated appeals from the tenant societies.
The redevelopment agreement was formalized with the issuance of a Letter of Intent to the Rustomjee Group by MHADA Vice President and CEO Sanjeev Jaiswal. He called the project a historic model for urban renewal and directed the developer to prepare a detailed master plan while assuring regular monitoring of progress.
Rustomjee Group’s Chairman and Managing Director, Boman Irani, described the project as one of the largest redevelopment efforts in the city. He stated that it is not merely an infrastructure exercise but also one that carries social importance, as it involves families who have been part of the area’s history for over six decades. The project’s scale and the inclusion of both society members and slum dwellers make it a notable case in the city’s ongoing redevelopment drive.
The GTB Nagar colony was initially developed to house families displaced from Pakistan’s Sindh and Punjab provinces following the Partition of 1947. Under the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act of 1954, these families were allotted homes on an instalment basis. The 25 buildings constructed from 1957 onwards housed around 1,200 refugee families. At the time, each apartment cost approximately ₹5,380, with per square foot rates ranging from ₹14 to ₹15. Present-day rates in the locality are estimated between ₹20,000 and ₹30,000 per sq ft.
Following the declaration of the buildings as dangerous structures in 2020, there had been growing pressure on authorities to initiate redevelopment. With the formal agreement now in place, Rustomjee is expected to begin planning and implementation over the coming months. Residents and tenant associations have responded positively to the move but have requested transparent timelines and mechanisms for addressing grievances during the redevelopment period.
Image source- mhada.gov.in
