Weekly: Mumbai Real Estate Blurbs

Real estate in the busy, bustling, on-the-move city of the rich and famous – Mumbai, is something that is always in the news, for it’s rapidly evolving scenario.

In the latest news, Alok Industries in a joint venture with Ashford Infotech will acquire and develop office space spanning over a million square feet in suburban Mumbai. The venture will cost billions of rupees to develop.

Matheran Realty, a real estate firm based out of Mumbai has proposed to develop huge township for the ‘low-income’ group of people at Karjat, located on the outskirts of Mumbai. The company says that it will build about 10,000 houses using technology sourced for an Australian company and will boast all facilities like shopping malls, super markets and entertainment arenas.

In other news, the slums around Mumbai airport face closure following a directive from the government. The slums are probably the first thing people see while landing in Mumbai and will result in thousands of people standing to lose their homes. The slums are a goldmine for developers given Mumbai’s exorbitant land prices.  In a related incident, over 6,000 slum dwellers blocked roads and protested the re-development project initiated by the government. The people of the Dharavi slum protested the fact that thy will have nowhere to live when the government begins work through a private firm to build free schools and healthcare establishments for them. The re-development is said to take over 7 years to complete.

Land sharks are popping the champagne after the Maharastra government repealed the Urban Land Ceiling & Regulation Act (ULCRA). The act that restricts development on big land holdings has been relaxed. The good news it is that it frees up over 1,00,000 acres from the government for development. The companies standing to benefit from this include Godrej, Wadia Trust and Hirandani Developers.

In other gossip, let’s talk about the Ambani’s with their dream home ‘Antilia’ being built on Altamont road in Mumbai. It comprises 27 floors boasts of 3 helipads, parking floors for their imported cars, an entertainment floor, guest accommodation, health & fitness areas and a whole lot more – all just for the Ambani’s!  The Ambani’s new home will be the talk of the town once completion in September this year. If you’re wondering what land costs in the area hold your breath – 75,000 rupees ($ 1,912) a square foot!