Deputy Chief Minister of Maharsthra, Eknath of Shinde announced a 10 percent price cut across the board for housing units built by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) in Navi Mumbai. The announcement has been made to the relief of the homebuyers. On Saturday, Shinde indicated that the decision was made in order to facilitate the purchase of municipally-built homes to the citizens.
Talking in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Shinde said, "The price reduction will be valid for all the categories of the CIDCO housing, i.e. the common government-built homes will be made affordable to the ordinary citizen". According to him, the initiative is in line with the directive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi "Housing for All", and it is a way of guaranteeing good-quality state-owned housing to the people at a fair price.
He informed that CIDCO has developed nearly 17,000 flats in the major nodes of Navi Mumbai that comprised of Kharghar, Vashi, Kharkopar, Taloja, Ulwe, Kalamboli, Kamothe, and Panvel. He further stated to the House that “The lottery process for allotment of these units is expected to be completed within the next two months. Ahead of the allotment, the government decided to lower prices to ease the financial burden on aspiring homeowners.”
Historically, homes constructed by CIDCO have been more expensive than those by other agencies such as Mhada, making them out of reach for many buyers. Acknowledging this, Shinde described the price reduction as a “major and historic” decision by the state government.
The Deputy Chief Minister also outlined that this move is part of a broader set of housing reforms undertaken by the Mahayuti government. These reforms include efforts to make Mumbai ‘pagdi-free,’ an amnesty scheme for homeowners denied occupation certificates, and special initiatives to accelerate housing redevelopment. Shinde noted, “Collectively, these measures could prove to be game changers for Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, where affordable housing has remained a long-standing challenge.”
Elaborating on the pagdi-free initiative, DCM Shinde stated, “The move to make Mumbai pagdi-free would help fulfil the dream of home ownership for over 2.5 lakh families. Around 1,900 buildings constructed before 1960 and awaiting redevelopment are expected to benefit.” He added that tenants would receive the same floor space index (FSI) in redeveloped buildings. Pending court cases, mostly arising from rent control disputes, are expected to be resolved in fast-track courts within a couple of months.
DCM Shinde additionally conveyed current and future concepts to infuse "green" transfer of development rights (TDR) in order to conserve the endangered mangroves and make it easier to create Mumbai mangrove parks. Apart from that, he voiced a plan to set up a housing stock or housing bank to provide the mill workers with support, who will be affected by the closing down of 58 textile mills in the city.
The announcement is acknowledged as a move towards affordable housing accommodation which privileges are concomitantly extended to sustainable development and urban reform. Since Navi Mumbai is turning out to be a more attractive residential area, the 10% reduction in the price of tickets will open up access to a larger number of people and thus bring them considerable monetary relief.
CIDCO's updated prices and the forthcoming lottery procedure indicate a turning point in the field of affordable housing in the area and demonstrate the government's dedication to making urban housing accessible to more people and consistent with its development prospects in the long run.
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