04 January,2012 06:43 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
Home seekers have reason to cheer. For the first time ever,u00a0 the Mumbai and Konkan boards of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) are coming up with the lottery of as many as 4,500 affordable houses in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district this year.
Speaking to MiD DAY, an ex-chairman of the Mumbai board of MHADA, who didn't wish to reveal his name, said, "This will be the biggest such lottery in the history of MHADA in terms of the number of houses that will be released. For the first time Mumbai and Konkan boards will jointly hold the draw."
Dream home: MHADA's underconstruction buildings in the Mira Road-
Bhayander area are likely to be released in April-May 2012 for the lottery.
Pic/Pramod Dethe
House that!
Currently, MHADA is constructing more than 5,000 dwellings at various places in Mumbai and in the Mira Road-Bhayander area of Thane. Of these houses, around 4,500 are nearing completion. These are likely to be released in April-May 2012 by MHADA for the lottery that could take place as early as in May-June.
An important aspect is that no houses for higher income groups (HIG) will form a part of this draw. "MHADA is not a profit-making body and therefore we have kept maximum houses (3,101) for the economically weaker sections (EWS) and the lower income groups (LIG) as they are in need of affordable houses," the official said.
Number crunching
Some reports in October had suggested that 4,229 houses would be a part of the lottery. However, the number has now gone up to 4,596. While MHADA is constructing 2,229 houses on its own land, the remaining 2,367 would be received through partnership with a private developer.
The authority has entered into a joint venture agreement with Guru Ashish Developers to refurbish a chawl in Siddharth Nagar, Goregaon.
The project would enable MHADA to get around 2,500 houses absolutely free of cost, as the land belongs to it. Most of these units would be available for the 2012 draw.
"We also have JV projects in Mulund and Aram Nagar, Versova that could provide us an additional stock of more than 800 houses. If work on these projects starts in time, we would add these houses to the 2012 lottery," the official said.
