Dharavi Can Become Growth Business Centre Post-Redevelopment, Says DRP CEO

Asserting that the Maharashtra Government's motto for the redevelopment of India's largest slum area Dharavi is "housing for all," Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) CEO SRV Srinivas on Tuesday said that the priority is to finish rehabilitation as better as possible and as early as possible.

In an interaction with PTI Video, Srinivas also said that post-redevelopment, Dharavi can also expand and become a growth business centre, especially for the SME sector.

The redevelopment of Dharavi, a vast slum sprawl in the heart of Mumbai, will be carried out through a special purpose vehicle set up through a joint venture between the Adani Group and the Maharashtra government.

The state government has already given its approval to the master plan of the ambitious project.

"Typically in slum rehabilitation projects only eligible people are given a house, others are thrown onto the roads. Whether it is Mumbai or any other city, only eligible people are given houses. But the Dharavi Redevelopment Project is different in the sense that the government's motto is housing for all.

Everybody will be getting a house albeit in different formats," said Srinivas.

He said that those who are eligible will get a house free of cost (post-redevelopment) right inside Dharavi while those who are not eligible will get a house inside Mumbai or inside Mumbai Metropolitan Region on a rental basis but they can also purchase the house at a higher price and can become the owner.

One of the important components of the Master Plan is the equitable distribution of the land and equitable access to the amenities. Otherwise, there is a possibility of ghettoization, which generally happens in many redevelopment projects, he said.

"The final master plan that has been submitted ensures more or less equitably that the people of Dharavi have access to amenities, neighbourhood centres, open spaces. The Master Plan also gives us the overall approach as to how the livelihoods of the various commercial components are also sought to be resettled," Srinivas said.

As per the business plan submitted by the SPV, Srinivas said, the rehabilitation component alone is a whopping Rs 97,500 crore and "the priority is to finish the rehabilitation as better as possible and as early as possible, he said.

The Dharavi Redevelopment Project is as much about the residences as about livelihoods and "so more or less everybody all the commercial and industry units will be rehabilitated inside Dharavi," he said.

The aim is that we should protect the livelihoods and ensure that the trades, factories and industries there not only survive but also expand and grow, he said.

"Right now in Dharavi, there is a low-level investment trap because there are no entitlements. People are not ready to invest. People are not ready to expand. It is only a subsistence business that is going on. However, if you want to expand, you need to give entitlements. By giving that, we are actually retaining that fabric and also expanding it," Srinivas said.