The Dharavi Redevelopment Project aims to rehouse approximately 57,000 slum families in free homes, to be built by investing real estate developers who then exploit the special FSI of 4 for commercial development.

These and other concerns will have to be looked into carefully, Chatterjee said.

The government has also imposed a mandatory community development wing for the winning consortia, to undertake the most challenging task of entering into individual agreements with the 57,000 families eligible for rehousing and shifting them into transit accommodation before demolishing their homes.

The minimum premium bidders must quote has been fixed at Rs 450 per sq ft of built-up area. That translates into a few hundred crores per sector to be channeled into government coffers, considerably lower than the earlier expected total premium of several thousand crores. But that bidders will quote rock bottom prices, for now, is the least of the worries on the ambitious project to transform Asia’s largest shantytown.

The plush project
The Rs 15,000-cr Dharavi Redevelopment Project hopes to rehouse eligible slumdwellers in 300-sq foot flats. Commercial and industrial unit owners get the same 300 sq ft area free, but can buy excess area at cost price. While it may not have been the government’s intention, the project was also seen as a money-spinner with bidders to be selected on the basis of a premium amount they offer to pay the government.

According to the plan, winning builders are also to develop world-class amenities worth nearly Rs 2,000 crore, including hospitals, schools and parks.