Dharavi, located in the heart of Mumbai, is Asia’s largest slum with thousands of small businesses and hundreds of people living in an area of over 600 acres. The Maharashtra government has been fighting for decades to rebuild Dharavi as a planned mixed-use development with homes, offices and small industries. The Adani Group on Monday emerged as the top bidder in a global tender for the redevelopment of the sprawling slum adjacent to the business hub of Bandra-Kurla Complex and Mumbai airport. There have been promises to rebuild Dharavi like Shanghai redeveloped Lujiazui. For the Adani group, this is an opportunity to signal to the world its ability to execute, just like the way Ambani built the Jamnagar refinery.
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Adani Group, the energy and infrastructure giant that topped the bid, will resettle slum dwellers on railway land, opening up prime land for redevelopment. Beyond Nariman Point in Mumbai’s downtown and the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in the suburbs, new commercial complexes may come up, creating a third business district in Mumbai. From housing offices of diverse industries to reserving space for small industries already located in Dharavi to even emerging as a financial services destination for the world, it opens up a world of possibilities for Mumbai and India. Is. Adani bid Rs 5,069 crore for 23,000 crore Integrated Dharavi Redevelopment Project. A committee of secretaries is expected to formally take the project forward soon. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be formed with Adani holding a majority stake. The rehabilitation process should be over in seven years and the project should be completed in 17 years.
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Will Mumbai be slum free?
The Dharavi redevelopment is part of a larger goal of eventually making Mumbai slum-free. This will be a difficult task. According to the World Bank, almost half of the city’s population lives in densely populated slums. Many of these slums are located along railway tracks and footpaths, and are deeply embedded in the fabric of the city. Providing free or affordable housing for all is a herculean task. Mumbai authorities have tried every option over the years, from on-site rehousing, to relocating them to distant suburbs, to building market-rate housing in slum areas, to cross-substitution housing. To give subsidy. Multilateral bodies such as the World Bank are often consulted for the exercise. Still, progress has been very slow, with huge numbers on the system.
Dharavi’s small businesses will remain
Several slums have almost become a permanent feature of Mumbai’s landscape, giving rise to a mini business ecosystem. Dharavi has many informal small scale industries ranging from medicines to footwear, clothing and leather. All commercial and industrial units will find space in the redeveloped Dharavi. Over the years, the standard of living in Mumbai’s slums has improved. The Multidimensional Poverty Index of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in its recent report pegs India’s urban poverty level at 5.5%. The World Bank estimated in 2018 that 35% of India’s urban population lives in slums. Clearly, a large proportion of the urban population living in slums is not visible in multidimensional poverty.
Lessons from the Dharavi experience
The Mumbai experience highlights the need for city planning to contain the growing number of slums. Indian cities are growing at a rapid pace and becoming engines of economic growth; However, there is a complete lack of urban planning in large parts of India. In fact, many urban settlements are governed as “rural” entities, a recent NITI Aayog report showed. Unmanaged urban sprawl eats up precious land resources – often fertile agricultural land – and is environmentally unsustainable. India needs compact cities and suburbs. China makes an offer. Lessons in urban planning Keeping its cities slum-free for decades, it has merged town-village development with the urbanization process for an organized expansion of its urban centres.
Dharavi: Big test for Gautam Adani
With a net worth of over $150 billion, Gautam Adani is now the third richest person in the world behind Elon Musk and French fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault. In recent years, his group has expanded rapidly into businesses ranging from airports and roads to renewable energy to defense and aerospace and media. Real estate is emerging as another port of call for the Adani group. It is also an opportunity for the group to showcase its execution capability to the world and stock markets. Slum redevelopment is a major challenge, and meeting the project deadline and preventing cost overruns will remain a priority for the group. The Slum Rehabilitation Authority, set up by the Maharashtra government in 1995, has a remarkable record so far, having rehabilitated over 200,000 families in over 2,000 projects alone. The Dharavi project may also test Adani. Remember how the smooth execution of the world’s largest Jamnagar refinery brought Ambani global recognition? The Dharavi project will be followed by the whole world and it is an opportunity for Gautam Adani to make a strong statement about the professionalism and prowess of his group.
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